August 2004 Archives

I seem to have found the Gmail invite motherlode - so if there's anyone left on the planet who doesn't have one, then let me know...preference given to people I know [of]. Update - all gone - no more invites left.

Turns out that the Marvel Universe collaboration network [you know, like the one where Wolverine helped out the New Mutants against that evil thing from outer space] looks almost like a "real" social network.

Coincidence or sign of something deeper.

Queue Twilight Zone music.

[via MeFi]

Just found this article from HR Magazine - Blogs begin to make mark on corporate communications. Some quotes reaffirming the belief in the value of weblogs for external comms as well as internal from Jason Shellen [a Google/Blogger guy], and then a more traditional, conservative and control-oriented comment from Kathryn Yates, who heads up the Communication Practice for Watson Wyatt.

There is, however, as much potential for misuse of blogs as there is for any other form of electronic communication. "The topics should really be business-related for a blog to be really effective," said Kathryn Yates, communication global practice leader for Watson Wyatt Worldwide in Chicago.

I don't know what else was said that didn't make the article, but it's disappointing that the focus is on the control/risk aspects of weblogs rather than their potential - weblogs viewed as a threat. I'm pretty sure this riskcontrol mindset exists at most of the big consulting companies, where communication is still mostly perceived as a top-down broadcast activity. [Disclaimer - I work for a direct competitor of Watson Wyatt, and what's written in this weblog represent my views and not the views of my employer].]

Comprehensive review of the important research being conducted on SN in an organisational context. It serves as a nice overview into the current strands of thinking as well as a really really comprehensive reading list. And, in another demonstration of what a small world this is, while reading the paper, my girlfriend noticed the name and said "Borgatti, eh ? I had lunch with him last year at a network conference."