I saw an interesting documentary on the BBC yesterday, about the Six Degrees of Separation. This model of connectivity is not new. What was new to me however was the fact that the mathematical model explains not only human relationships, but also how networks in general function. Whether they studied computer networks, electricity or the the network that connects Hollywood actors (like Kevin Bacon), they all comply to the same mathematics. Intriguing and scary in a way.
Another interesting point made was the role of hubs. Not everyone has the same number of connections. This is true on Facebook as it's true in real life. Nor are all websites connected in the same way. Some sites have thousands of links, other sites have just some links. The sites (and people) that have abundant links to others are called hubs. Hubs play a crucial role in connecting the network. On internet and in real life hubs also play a leading part in the distribution of computer viruses and human diseases.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kdtvv (If you're outside the UK, you cannot view this documentary online).
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Sound of Intranet
Did you ever wonder what sound an intranet makes? I know, this is a weird question to start off with. And off course there is no real sound an intranet produces. But imagining a sound intranet makes enlightens the ways we perceive intranets. For instance, would you associate the intranet-sound with a desert, a waterfall, a city hub maybe, or a turbine? These each produce quite different sounds, which instantly paint a mental image of the respective source, and its purpose. A desert has a quietness and openness about it that a city hub lacks.
What sound does your intranet make?
What sound does your intranet make?
Service as a perspective for innovation
Marketing Fatigue Syndrome
Much internet blogs and web innovations are about money. This puts people like me in an awkward position, in which we constantly have to defend the fact that not all communication is marketing. I am not money driven but service minded.
Most questions I get with regards to intranet are about moving internet hypes into the digital work space. They are therefore often about marketing and initiatives to market the own community.
This is tricky and most unsatisfactory: marketeers have a different agenda than organizational communicators. For let's not pretend that internal communication is the same as marketing. Our colleagues are not our selling target audience. I myself get quite tired and annoyed by marketing. Call it marketing fatigue syndrome.
Service as driver on intranet
Intranets are more about interaction between employees than they are about branding. Sure, the corporate identity supports the brand, but from a content perspective pushing branded content won't get you a standing ovation from the supposed target audiences.
Choosing an alternative path than branding and marketing means that people like me walk a more silent and maybe solitary path. At least when you compare this path with the loud marketing majority. I don't shout, but listen to what's surrounding me: people. Not people to sell stuff to, but people to support and facilitate.
Service is more sustainable than sales, for the simple fact that services are people driven and marketing is sales driven. Good intranet services create a positive feeling about the working environment and the organization. When you are facilitated or supported in a professional way by the intranet, the positive feeling this creates outweighs the sense of well-being that's promoted by the empty branding statements we find on our desktop.
Much internet blogs and web innovations are about money. This puts people like me in an awkward position, in which we constantly have to defend the fact that not all communication is marketing. I am not money driven but service minded.
Most questions I get with regards to intranet are about moving internet hypes into the digital work space. They are therefore often about marketing and initiatives to market the own community.
This is tricky and most unsatisfactory: marketeers have a different agenda than organizational communicators. For let's not pretend that internal communication is the same as marketing. Our colleagues are not our selling target audience. I myself get quite tired and annoyed by marketing. Call it marketing fatigue syndrome.
Service as driver on intranet
Intranets are more about interaction between employees than they are about branding. Sure, the corporate identity supports the brand, but from a content perspective pushing branded content won't get you a standing ovation from the supposed target audiences.
Choosing an alternative path than branding and marketing means that people like me walk a more silent and maybe solitary path. At least when you compare this path with the loud marketing majority. I don't shout, but listen to what's surrounding me: people. Not people to sell stuff to, but people to support and facilitate.
Service is more sustainable than sales, for the simple fact that services are people driven and marketing is sales driven. Good intranet services create a positive feeling about the working environment and the organization. When you are facilitated or supported in a professional way by the intranet, the positive feeling this creates outweighs the sense of well-being that's promoted by the empty branding statements we find on our desktop.
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