OpenBC: The "More Europe" Project

I have a deep-seated ambivalence about social networking applications. On one hand, I am a strong advocate for social tools, in general, and the benefits that the social dimension can bring to nearly any sort of application. For example, I have asserted for years that in the near future all e-commerce will be socialized (see The Revolution Will Be Socialized: Social Architecture and The Future Of Online Markets, for example). I use and applaud many social apps -- like Flickr, Last.fm, Upcoming.org, and most recently the CD swapping service La La (see here). So it may seem strange -- if not schizophrenic -- that I have such a strong antipathy to professional social networking.

At one time, I was a member of an astonishing number of social networking apps: Friendster, Tribe, Orkut, LinkedIn, Spoke, ZeroDegrees, Yahoo 360, and others. I have consulted to several of these companies. In a series of posts at Get Real, I very publicly wrote about the annoyances of being a member of these services and then made a case for dropping them all, which I did. The series ran to over 10 posts, and this quote sums up my feelings at the time:

[from Unlinking from Social Networks: Part 3]

Peter Kaminski of Socialtext provided me some real leverage in my thinking about social networks. At the American Cancer Society Innovation Conference, he characterized social software as technology that allows people to create together.

That insight immediately helped me understand the distinction between the social networks I want to continue on with (Plazes, Flickr, NetFlix Friends, and many others) and the ones that I am planning to drop out of (LinkedIn, ZeroDegrees, Orkut, and a long, long list of others). I want to stay where I feel that I am creating something with others, and I will drop out when I don't.

The networking-oriented social networks really just seem like CRM solutions that have discovered social network theory: the network information associated with contacts is just another sort of data to be managed, like how many widgets they have bought this quarter, or telephone numbers. Don't get me wrong: there is nothing wrong with selling widgets, and I think that companies like VisiblePath are really onto something with private social networking solutions to help companies leverage their relationship capital. But on the other hand I don't see why I need to join so-called public networks to make it easier for others to pitch to or through me and my contacts.

So, from now on I can simply use "Kaminski's Test" to determine whether I should join some new SNA: if it seems like I can create something with others through the network, I'll join, otherwise, I'll pass.

Sort of reminds me of that quote of Groucho Marx: "I would never join a club that would have me as a member." Except in this case its "I would never join a club that exists only to have members."

Given that history, it may come as a surprise that I am taking the plunge again, or at least testing the waters. Over the next few months, I am undertaking a project to investigate the pros and cons of social networking, focussed on a single, very successful solution, OpenBC. While OpenBC is sponsoring this activity, I intend to be just as cantankerous as usual, and I have some clear objectives in mind that will make this project more than a series of puff pieces.

In particular, I would like to increase my clientele in Europe, where OpenBC is very strong -- they have over 1 million users, mostly located in Europe -- so the most clear cut proof that OpenBC-style professional networking works would be gaining a few European clients. At present, OpenBC is my only European client. A secondary aim is be to increase the frequency of paid speaking engagements in Europe. My ulterior goal is to spend at least 3 months of 2007 in Europe, working and speaking. It's a tall order since thus far in 2006 I have only visited there for less than a week, although I have a planned 10 day trip for September.

So, I will be posting on this "experiential marketing" project over the next few months, as I attempt to follow the advice of OpenBC's staff and most knowledgeable users about how to achieve these aims, and I will examine everything involved: from the creation of a detailed profile, to developing a personal network, and the ins and outs of trying to use the system to accomplish real business goals. Because my goal is to spend more time in Europe, I am calling this the "More Europe" project.

As I said, I will be candid and critical. If I think some aspect of OpenBC's user experience is dumb, I will say so. If I start drowning in social spam, I will write about it. If I get no traction on my plan, I will chronicle that.

It turns out that OpenBC is involved in a redesign at this point, so I will write about that from time to time, as well. In fact, they have announced a design competition, where the winner will be awarded €10,000 and get a job offer from OpenBC: see here for more info. This is the first week of the redesign project.

So, later this week, I will start at the beginning by doing whatever OpenBC staff and users recommend as a starting point, and we'll see where that leads me.

sponsored by OpenBC

tags: openbc, experiential+marketing, social+networking, more+europe+project, peter+kaminski

Comments

[Zoli Erdos]

Stowe, I understand the Euro-angle, but OpenBC certainly doesn' t pass the "Kaminski-test", since it's just another LinkedIn, isn't it?

[Gregg Eldred]

I have been getting a few invites to LinkedIn (I am a member of OpenBC). I was wondering the value of LinkedIn, since I have a blog with all of my contact info on it. Is the goal of most of these to find out who has the most links/friends/contacts? And if you have a presence on the web (blog, in particular), where is the value?

Just wondering.