HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Communities for Foresight

© 2011 IBM Corporation

HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Communities for Foresight

Bill Chamberlin, Principal Client Analyst, Market Insights

4 May 2011


IBM Market Insights

2 HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Online Communities For ForesightMay 4, 2011

About This Presentation

This deck provides a summary of how to leverage social media and communities in order to develop and share foresight. Examples are provided for illustrations.

Text and URLs are hotlinked through out the deck. Viewing the deck in Slideshow mode is the best way to quickly access these links.


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Table of Contents

The Implications of Social Media

My Experience

–HorizonWatch: Internal

–HorizonWatching: External

How You Can Leverage Social Media and Communities

Appendix: Additional Reading


IBM Market Insights


Table of Contents


My Experience






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The Implications of the Emergence of Social Media


Contribute

Social Consumption

via comments, trackbacks, feedback, etc Indivdual

Control

Institutional Control

Sh

ift

of

Po

wer

dis

trib

ute

d

me

dia

tio

n

network effects

pull

Social Media

Blogsosphere

Podcasts

Forums

Wikis

CommunitiesMicroblogs

Syndication

Blog

Blog Blog

Blog

Blog

BlogBlog

Blog

Traditional Media

Publish

Observe

Individuals

centralized mediation

push

Television

Movies

Radio

Print

Media Outlets


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Today, everyone can be a publisher of content….

6


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However, some have more influence than others…

7

= Community Champion

= Community Agent

= Community User

= Flow and strength of Knowledge

Social Activity


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Challenge: How To Leverage Social Media for Foresight

8

Foresight Professional

SOCIAL NETWORKS (where publicly available)

WIKIS

PHOTO SHARING

BLOGS100+ million

MICROBLOGS

FORUMS/NEWSGROUPS120+ million

VIDEO SHARING

SOCIAL MEDIA NEWSAGGREGATORS

FORESIGHT COMMUNITIES

May 4, 2011 HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Online Communities For Foresight


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Table of Contents


My Experience






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The Birth of HorizonWatch: A community based foresight scanning and collaboration community in IBM

September 2000: IBM Exec wants to be kept abreast of emerging trends and technologies

November 2000: Meeting invite extended to 35 people via conference call.

January 2001: HorizonWatch team formed..

March 2001: Email distribution list for calls and newsletter grows to 1000 employees


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What is the HorizonWatch Community?

• Demographics: 1900+ IBMers from all types of functions, divisions, geographies.

• Focus: Emerging trends and technologies.

• Conference calls: Topics are presented to the community by subject matter experts.

• Collaboration Platform:• Blog• Discussion Forums• Bookmarks• File Sharing• Wiki

Diversity of the Community means different perspectives, which enhances collaboration

and sparks innovation.


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Overall Objective: Improve our ability to sense future

business issues, trends and opportunities


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150 Conference Calls Since 2001


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From 2001 – 2006, collaboration was very limited

Conference Calls

Email

Yearly Surveys


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In 2006, the HorizonWatch Blog was launched internally to the Community

A new way of delivering content

A new way of getting feedback on ideas

A new way of collaborating and brainstorming

A new source for scanning

A new way of learning from community members

The HorizonWatch Blog

quickly became one of the

top 10 most read blogs in

IBM


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Example: Brainstorming after a March 2007 Conference Call


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The HorizonWatch Blog is now a scanning knowledge database with over 1000 internal posts since September 2006


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In 2009, the Internal HorizonWatch Community Platform was launched allowing a whole new level of collaboration


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The community platform has Discussion Forums which can also be used for online brainstorm sessions


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Idea! Why not involve the public in this social and collaboration process?


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HorizonWatching was launched in 2007 via an external blog

http://www.horizonwatching.typepad.com/

• This is my external thought leadership blog where I test out my ideas and share content

• Over 300 posts the past four years.



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HorizonWatching on Twitter was launched in 2008

First Tweet:

http://twitter.com/horizonwatching

http://twitter.com/#!/horizonwatching


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HorizonWatching on Slideshare was launched in 2008

http://www.slideshare.net/HorizonWatching



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In 2009, the LinkedIn Group was launched

780 Members connecting with each other, have discussions, and share content

HorizonWatching on LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1817327

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1817327


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The Facebook page was launched in the fall of 2009

Nuggets of future related information and news

Also contains feed posts from Tumblr and Typepad

Fan likes and comments

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HorizonWatching/171883855681



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In 2009, the Tumblr blog site was added

The Tumblr blog provides quotes and videos from others.

It’s a collection of scanning signals

159 posts to date

HorizonWatching on Tumblr

http://horizonwatching.tumblr.com/






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In 2011, the Horizonwatching Daily ‘Newspaper’ was added

Paper.li takes the links shared by those that follow the @HorizonWatching twitter id and creates an online newspaper from those articles.

It’s a virtual collection of articles that contribute to my scanning capability

http://paper.li/horizonwatching



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How Do I Leverage All This To Help Me Understand the

Future?


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I use social media and communities in a number of ways….

Scanning: Search to understand what people are talking about.

Brainstorming: Two is better than one. Hundreds are better than two.

Thousands are better than hundreds.

Publishing: Posting content online helps establish my reach and authority

Idea Development: Get feedback and improve my research

Networking: Connect with other subject matter experts.

Learning: Develop a better understanding of the potential future(s)


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Tips on Scanning

Google Master Lessons: Learn the detail behind Google Search http://sites.google.com/site/gwebsearcheducation/master-lessons

Social Search Engines: Learn to use social search engines http://slidesha.re/autgz4

Alerts: Set up Google Alerts http://slidesha.re/autgz4

FeedReaders: Set up a FeedReader and subscribe to feeds http://email.about.com/od/rssreaderswin/tp/top_rss_windows.htm

Social Search Engines

http://sites.google.com/site/gwebsearcheducation/master-lessons



http://slidesha.re/autgz4





http://email.about.com/od/rssreaderswin/tp/top_rss_windows.htm

http://email.about.com/od/rssreaderswin/tp/top_rss_windows.htm


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Scanning Example: Smarter Planet Topics

All Smarter Planet Topics:

Blog: A Smarter Planet

Blog: Building A Smarter Planet

Topics I Focus On…• Water Management• Traffic / Transportation• Cloud Computing• Energy / Buildings

http://asmarterplanet.com/

http://smarterplanet.tumblr.com/




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Secondary Research

Survey Community via Blog and Discussion

Forums

Develop Report

And Post

Hold Community Conference

Call

Post to Community

Platform

Blog Posts on Trends

Communicate to Strategy teams

Input from strategy teams

Example: HorizonWatch trends documents leverage input from community members

Input from forward looking teams

Additional Research & Collaboration

Blog Post



Communicate to forward

looking teams

Eleven Technology Trends to Watch in 2011


http://www.slideshare.net/HorizonWatching/horizonwatching-eleven-technology-trends-to-watch-in-2011










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33 HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Online Communities For Foresight 33

1. A Primer on Smarter Water

2. A Primer On Cloud Computing

3. A Primer on Nanotechnology

4. A Primer on Telepresence

5. A Primer on Unified Communications

6. A Primer on Futurists

7. A Primer on 3D Printing

8. A Primer on Scenario Planning

9. A Primer on the Website Personalization Trend

10. A Primer on the Consumer Market for Household Robots

11. A Primer on the Trend Towards Video-enabled Business Processes

12. A Primer on the Smart Grid and Intelligent Utility Network Trend

13. A Primer On Water Management Issues

14. A Primer on Advanced Business Analytics

Sharing thought leadership content on the blog helps me develop my understanding of key trends and get feedback from readers

May 4, 2011

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2009/05/a-primer-on-smarter-water.html

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/.services/blog/6a00d8347162c969e200d83471df2569e2/search?filter.q=primer

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2009/04/a-primer-on-nanotechnology.html

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2009/04/a-primer-on-telepresence.html

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2009/04/a-primer-on-telepresence.html

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2009/04/primer-on-unified-communications.html

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2009/06/a-primer-on-futurists.html

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2009/11/a-primer-on-3d-printing.html

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/.services/blog/6a00d8347162c969e200d83471df2569e2/search/page/2/?filter.q=primer

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2011/03/a-primer-on-the-website-personalization-trend.html


http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2011/03/a-primer-on-the-trend-towards-video-enabled-business-processes.html


http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/.services/blog/6a00d8347162c969e200d83471df2569e2/search/page/2/?filter.q=primer

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2011/03/a-primer-on-advanced-business-analytics.html


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Table of Contents


My Experience






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13 Steps to Leveraging Social Media and Communities

1. Document your career goals

2. List your top 4-5 career topic areas

3. Assess your existing social network and online presence

4. Master the online social and productivity tools

5. Research URLs that relate to your top 4-5 career topics

6. Document where conversations are taking place

7. Join online communities


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13 Steps to Leveraging Social Media and Communities (Cont.)

8. Move your conversations online

9. Manage your online brand

10. Friend/Connect with Community Champions & Experts

11. Share your Knowledge Wealth

12. Establish yourself as an online authority

13. Integrate off-line conversations with your online presence


IBM Market Insights

37

Learn to leverage social media and online Communities to help you understand the futures and communicate your foresight.

A social transformation is taking place in how people interact and how relationships form and develop, and this is changing the way we work and the way we engage with our customers.

Customersare leading the conversations that define your brand

Competitorsare crowd-sourcing ideas to bring new solutions to market

Employeesare using social media in all facets of their lives, including work



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Thank You!


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Table of Contents


My Experience






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About Me

Bill Chamberlin

Joined IBM Chicago Office in January 1981 as a Systems Engineer

First 8 years in Sales, rest in Marketing

Finished part-time MBA in 1995

HorizonWatch Community Leader since late 2000

Current Title “Principal Consultant - Social Insights Practice, Corporate Market Insights Team

40May 4, 201140 HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Online Communities For Foresight


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Where I Hang Out Online….

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LinkedIn = Profile Page LinkedIn Group = Horizonwatching Thought Leadership Blog = Horizonwatching on

Typepad Signal/Scanning Blog = HorizonWatching on Tumblr Twitter ID = Horizonwatching Facebook = HorizonWatching Online Newsletter = HorizonWatching Slideshare IBM Expert Network = HorizonWatching A Smarter Planet = Blog on Tumblr The InfoBoom Community = Profile Page


http://www.linkedin.com/in/whchamb

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1817327&trk=anet_ug_grppro



http://twitter.com/horizonwatching






http://www.theinfoboom.com/profile/Horizonwatching/


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Some additional things I suggest you do....

Uses Social Search Tools to find experts/futurists and then follow them on Twitter and on Blogs

Go to a professional futurists event– Association of Professional Futurists Spring meetings – The World Futures Society conferences

Join the Foresight Network, an online community of futurists and people interested in the future

Find the futurists at Poptech, TED, SXSW, and other events that draw forward thinking people

Read the Smarter Planet blogs– http://asmarterplanet.com/– http://smarterplanet.tumblr.com/

http://www.profuturists.org/

http://www.wfs.org/

http://shapingtomorrowmain.ning.com/

http://www.poptech.org/

http://www.ted.com/

http://sxsw.com/






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HorizonWatch FAQs• How far into the future does the community explore?

• It’s fun to think about 20-50 (and even more) years into the future, but from a practical point, the community looks for guidance on a much shorter horizon. So most of our focus on the 1-5 year future.

• What techniques do you find the most useful and valuable?• Secondary Searches (Infogate/Factiva/Google) • Social Search Engines• Community Brainstorming via ‘CommunityChats’, Discussion Forums, Blog Posts

• Where do you look to understand how the future might unfold? • Depends on topic, but I always start with Secondary Research. See above.

• What are you reading to better understand the future?• Internet. Blogs, Association Websites, Articles, Factiva, General topic searches, News Alerts• Consultant/Analyst Reports• Twitter & Blogs: Monitoring for keywords and hashtags• Magazines: Wired, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Discover, Fast Company, Scientific American,

etc.

• What topic areas are you currently researching? • Social Media, Social Networks, and Online Communities.

• What tools do you wish we had to better look at the future? • Better tools to find subject matter experts (internally and externally) and their social networks.• Better Community leadership/management tools that help community leaders grow communities.• Better search engines and tools.



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What is a community?

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“Groups of people who share a passion for something” (Wenger, 2004)

“Groups of people who come together to share and learn from one another” (Vestal, 2003)

An interactive group of people joined together by a common topic of interest.

Topic of Interest



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A Social Network Has Three Requisite Elements That, When Combined, Deliver Network Value And Can Help Drive Business Results

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friend

friend

friend

friendfriend friend

friend

friend

me2. Volume of Interaction

3. Number of Participants

3 Elements of Network Value

1. Contributions

Successful social media strategies drive these three elements



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Joe = Influential Blogger

$$$

In Every Social Network, There Are Participants That Have The Ability To Influence Decision Makers

Jane = Influential Blogger

$$$

$$$

$$$

Develop a strategy to identify and reach these influencers

Analyst / Traditional Sources of news

Digital Media



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47 HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Online Communities For Foresight 47

1. Collaborate with teams

2. Ask questions

3. Answer questions

4. Read and comment

5. Listen and talk

6. Jointly develop ideas

7. Network with peers, mentors, experts

8. Share knowledge

9. Ask for feedback

“Social Learning: The unofficial, unscheduled, impromptu way most of us learn to do our jobs”

Embrace the fact that learning is a very social process and collaborating with others can only improve your understanding

May 4, 2011

HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Communities for Foresight

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Transcript of HorizonWatching: Leveraging Social Media and Communities for Foresight