The Future of the Book According to IDEO

I have always loved books. As a small child I was driven to learn to read and had, midway through Year 2, read everything available in my school library. From there I moved onto more advanced topics – history, exploration and geography. I read it all like a great unfolding story – and it expanded my world.

When I took my first post-university role as an editor at a legal publisher, it wasn’t the law that interested me – it was the publishing. During orientation it was clear that I was becoming part of a tradition stretching back centuries. I met people who had had the mythical “job for life” – starting as apprentice typesetters at 16 and working their way through the printing and publishing business with the same employer through to their retirement. But that was another age.

You see, things were shifting.

I was fascinated in the connectedness of things. History and study had shown me how ideas attract and connections form. And already the opportunities to connect data with knowledge appeared as a huge opportunity.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and we are finally seeing the realisation of these early promises. Web publishing was an enormous first step – but favoured the technically literate. Blogging was its democratisation. And I have no doubt that the social overlay that followed in its wake will take another 20 years to manifest.

But what MIGHT it look like? Courtesy of Armando Alves, here are some thoughts from design firm IDEO (who look like they are moving into the hardware business).

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

Digital Citizens – Rethink Privacy

When we first join social networking sites such as Facebook, we enthusiastically create our profile, pouring personal data into fields, checkboxes and personal pages. We join “networks”, add “applications”, play “quizzes” and upload photos. What we may not realise is that with every click, every upload and every game/quiz interaction, we are contributing to a rich underlying “social graph” that maps our profiles – our likes, interests, locations and preferences. The most amazing thing is that we do this voluntarily.

If a telemarketer was to call you and ask you for these details, would you so readily hand them over?

Facebook’s Open Graph

Over the last couple of weeks there has been plenty of discussion around Facebook and the changes that they have made to the privacy settings. To me it felt like Facebook was Pulling a Swifty. The new Open Graph API clearly changes the game – by exposing your underlying data to affiliated websites who can then use this information to provide targeted information, goods, services (read advertising) straight into your browser/mobile device.

Some have proposed an exodus from Facebook on May 31. Matt Milan and Joseph Dee’s Quit Facebook Day is a rallying point for those who are not only disgruntled with Facebook’s lack of concern about user data/privacy, but are willing to act on it. As they say:

For us it comes down to two things: fair choices and best intentions. In our view, Facebook doesn't do a good job in either department. Facebook gives you choices about how to manage your data, but they aren't fair choices, and while the onus is on the individual to manage these choices, Facebook makes it damn difficult for the average user to understand or manage this. We also don't think Facebook has much respect for you or your data, especially in the context of the future.

Being a Digital Citizen and Diaspora

For me, this is the important point. Whether we like it or not, we are now “digital citizens”. We are active, engaged participants online – but citizenry has rights and obligations. The vast majority of us are not comfortable working through the 17 steps to improving our Facebook privacy. It’s complicated. But just because it is complicated and/or confusing, doesn’t mean that we choose to opt-in.

Danah Boyd in Facebook and Radical Transparency eloquently sums up the challenge and the frustration:

The key to addressing this problem is not to say “public or private?” but to ask how we can make certain people are 1) informed; 2) have the right to chose; and 3) are consenting without being deceived …

What pisses me off the most are the numbers of people who feel trapped. Not because they don’t have another choice. (Technically, they do.) But because they feel like they don’t. They have invested time, energy, resources, into building Facebook what it is. They don’t trust the service, are concerned about it, and are just hoping the problems will go away. It pains me how many people are living like ostriches. If we don’t look, it doesn’t exist, right?? This isn’t good for society.

A group of developers have seized on this opportunity to rethink community, personal data and ownership – and have announced their intention to create a privacy aware, personally controlled, distributed, open source social network. Called Diaspora, it promises much. Within days, the team have been able to use the Kickstarter website to raise over 1700% of their required project budget from more than 5000 individual sponsors.

Reclaim Your Privacy

But what EXACTLY is this data and what does it look like? Just check out the way Facebook handles “social advertising” – where YOUR photos and name can appear in advertisements targeting your friends. Have you adjusted the setting to say No one?

ReclaimPrivacy.org have created a neat button that will show you more precisely the data that you have open. Simply drag their Scan for Privacy button to the toolbar on your browser, login to Facebook and click the button.

reclaimprivacy

As you can see, I have a few settings myself that I need to change. In fact, I am going a step further – removing a whole range of personal data, photos, information and so on.

I am considering establishing a new, isolated personal account with links to a dedicated email address. I would use this to manage the pages that I am responsible for – but little else.

A Flash in the Pan?

You may ask yourself – so what. You may feel that there is a fair exchange between you and Facebook – that you get value and give away little. If so, then you are clearly one of the digital citizens who are operating with a greater level of knowledge.

But is this a flash in the pan? Will this small pocket of resistance dissipate?

The volatile nature of social networks means that businesses – large and small – can no longer put their head in the sand. A small issue can be amplified by even a handful of activists. Sure, there may only be a few thousand people indicating that they will be deleting their Facebook account … but how many millions are these people connected to? What is the network of their social graph? What is the potential impact of a wave forming and breaking over the Facebook wall?

Clearly Facebook head of public policy, Tim Saparani, realises where this may go. This article in Wired, announcing that Facebook is to launch simplistic privacy choices soon, signals some level of awareness.

The proposed changes are unlikely to reverse the company’s December decision to make large portions of a user’s profile into “publicly available information” — which means even if you hide the fact you support a gun rights organization in your profile settings, that’s still findable online.

Will it stop the exodus? Has it impacted our sense of trust in Facebook? And what does it mean for brands who are edging ever deeper into Facebook as a social engagement platform? Is this strategy putting brand investment at risk?

At this point it comes down to personal preference and personal awareness. Which way will you be leaning?

Social Media Experts Run Over By The Cluetrain

DampflokAlmost every presentation on social media that I see alludes to The Cluetrain Manifesto. Either that, or to the Obama campaign.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this – I myself am a huge fan of using the Cluetrain – but it is also important to use it IN and AS context. And it is also important to dig into the underlying meaning of the Cluetrain – and to use that to power your own ideas, communications and approaches.

But the problem that I often see is, that for all the talk around social media (from agencies as well as from independent consultants), very few practice what they preach. Very few proposals or strategies are written with a view towards business – they provide almost no support for the marketers who need to sell these proposals and strategies back into their businesses. It makes me feel like quoting the Cluetrain back:

As markets, as workers [and as clients], we wonder why you're not listening. You seem to be speaking a different language.

I was thinking through this as I read Mandi Bateson’s excellent post on “social media” and whether all the talk is getting in the way of clarifying the message – and importantly, are we discussing the topic with passion or with reason. You see, in general, businesses will get behind social media if they can see that it will work for their businesses. Their decision will be based on reason – on the facts and figures, the case histories, the reputation of the people in the room and what they bring to the table, and it will be based on relationships.

Businesses won’t get behind your ideas if you don’t give them a reason to. They won’t champion your project if you don’t provide them with the support and the ammunition to take on their own (internal) detractors. And they won’t know what they are missing out on, if you don’t make it clear or if you strangle your pitch with social media jargon. Remember the Cluetrain:

The inflated self-important jargon you sling around—in the press, at your conferences [and in your social media pitches] — what's that got to do with us?

Maybe you're impressing your investors. [Maybe you’re impressing your social media echo chamber.] Maybe you're impressing Wall Street. You're not impressing us.

If you are going to pitch social media – then be respectful. Don’t get run over by the Cluetrain.

Neck Deep in Publishing

I am sure you know what it is like. There’s work life. There’s home life. There’s projects and opportunities, ideas and challenges – and all the while you are still thinking, “just a few more hours”.

At the moment I am just finalising The Perfect Gift for a Man – so that we can share the wonderful stories with you all. It is literally hours away from completion!

And we have also kicked off The Age of Conversation III – another global, collaborative project, this time with MORE collaborators. At last count we have over 300 authors promising to submit chapters. And with that comes dozens of questions, hundreds of emails and never enough time for any of it.

Oh, and I have some great posts brewing that I can’t wait to get your thoughts on. I just need a few more hours in each and every day.

Calling all Authors – It’s the Age of Conversation 3

Please come in.Back in 2007 it was a struggle to explain to people what “blogging” was all about. At dinner parties, people would grill me about blogging, about its relevance to business and about the weirdness of writing for a handful of readers. So when Drew McLellan and I decided to try and pull together 100 of the world’s most thoughtful and articulate marketers to share their experiences (both professional and individual) about blogging, we didn’t know what to expect. Could we REALLY turn it into a book?What would the content be like? How many people would actually DELIVER their chapters? How would the book be received?

Well, it’s over two years later. The book that we published, The Age of Conversation, spurned a follow-up edition, The Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t They Get It. We grew the author base from 100 to 237. We were mentioned in the press and on blogs around the world, and even made the reading list for undergraduate marketing courses across the US. In the process, we raised well over $20,000 for charity (all proceeds from the first two books were donated to Variety the Children’s Charity).

Age of Conversation 2Much has changed in the last two years. New platforms, tools and approaches have been tried. Some remain, many have fallen by the wayside. Businesses, public and private organisations and Not For Profits of all shapes and sizes are dipping their toes into the conversational water; agencies and independent consultants are wading in (some taking the full body immersion option); and together – often in spite of our best practices and efforts – we are ALL learning that there is much more to “social media” and its impacts than we could have first imagined.

Sure there are some success stories, but we are a long way from consensus.

It is in this landscape that we are launching a call for authors for a NEW collaborative book – The Age of Conversation 3. The approach remains the same as the previous editions. Each author will be able to submit one 400 word article. To make sure the content is varied and to avoid repetition, we've created 10 section topics. Each author will select one topic and then direct the content of their submission accordingly. There will be a maximum of 30 authors per section.

The sections you can write for are:  

  1. Conversational Branding
  2. Influence
  3. Getting to Work
  4. Corporate Conversations
  5. Measurement
  6. In the Boardroom
  7. Pitching Social Media
  8. Innovation and Execution
  9. Identities, Friends and Trusted Strangers
  10. Conversation at the Coalface (If you work at the coalface, you deal with the real problems and issues, rather than sitting in a office discussing things in a detached way.)

As you have probably figured out, we are capping participation at a maximum of 300 authors. So if you want to join what has become a global publishing event, you will need to MOVE FAST. You can sign up HERE.

What’s in it for you?

Your contribution to The Age of Conversation places you in esteemed company. Many of our past collaborators are well known authors in their own right, are respected thought leaders in a range of fields (from marketing through NFP, within the enterprise, in education and as business leaders) or distinguish themselves as community leaders in other ways.

Your article will appear in what we think will be one of the must-read books of 2010. If you have not been published before, this is your chance to collaborate on a business book with a global audience. There will be link love (to your blog or website), there will be opportunities to raise your profile via podcast, interviews and even book readings – and you will be raising money for a worthwhile charity.

In return, you will be asked to sign an author release:

  1. The author release will bind you to promoting the book on your blog, Twitter and other social tools. If you cannot commit to helping us promote the book, please don’t ask to participate.
  2. You handover your rights to your article and in return we will donate all proceeds to charity.
  3. This time, we are going to let the authors vote on the charity that will receive the proceeds (with some help from Beth Kanter)
  4. You commit to submitting your entry by November 1, 2009.

Wait! Hasn’t it all been said already?

At the time of the first Age of Conversation, Todd Andrlik’s Power 150 list of social media and marketing blogs really only had 150 entries. These days, now under the auspices of Charlie Moran at Ad Age, the Power 150 boasts over 1000 entries. Not only are MORE blogs being created, more writers are emerging with unique perspectives and new insights. There has never been a better time to be part of this global conversation. What are you waiting for? SIGN UP HERE.

Social Media Governance


CONTROLLED
Originally uploaded by rayboB

When it comes to actually implementing social media within an enterprise, the conversation often starts with control. Who can, should and will run with your social media activities? How are the reviewed and managed? What happens when things go pear-shaped? And how does it dovetail with the various other outreach activities?

One of the easiest ways to kick start the discussion within your organisation is to take a look at what others in your industry are doing. If you can’t find an example from your industry (hooray, you’re the first!), then look for organisations of a similar size and scale.

But where do you look?

Why, here in the online database of social media policies. Or, for those execs who don’t yet frequent online spaces, order them the book.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

A little late, but back again with some of the best web reads from last week. Enjoy!

  1. Olivier Blanchard has been producing some dynamite content for some time. He not only writes exceptionally well, he has now built quite a library of accompanying YouTube content. Last week he reminded us to get into startup mode again.
  2. Paul Isakson hits us again with What’s Next in Advertising and Marketing. Check it out. You’ll want to see this.
  3. “As content becomes unhinged …”, says Neil Perkin, “… so the separation between ‘platforms’ becomes less and less tangible”. Go there and expand your thinking.
  4. Katie Chatfield reminds me, that yes, I am the centre of the universe. Don’t think she meant that in a nice way 😉
  5. And for the brave amongst you, you can share in Annik Skelton’s conversations with her therapist.

About You

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