NESTA - Social media with Stephen Fry
Great event indeed.
Sadly the guys where ushered away and I could not even shake hands (I was at the front like groupies) with @Biz or Reid.. but I did manage with @StephenFry (whom we do DM each other, as 1 of his 'trillion' followers, he is kind 2 respond when he can!)
Question I had for Biz & Reid from the social media world is this, hope they can answer, as it touches on a lot of CXOs' concerns..
Question to Reid & Biz are these:
1.) Are you guys not trying too much to increase 'reach' by doing cross distribution deals that might be running the danger of 'scaring' off potential new users (e.g. the user interface on LinkedIn is now very BUSY!).. what are you doing to as Biz put it, make it simple? twitter is simple, but very noisy (me included)
and the group is so much for popularist now that most become an email address farmer's dream (thats why most groups are run by consultants & recruiters) {declaration: main group I run is for my business school}
2.) Exit strategy (for us users): What happens with our network of contacts/trusts/good will/ endorsements etc.? if/when you guys exit (Twitter don't mind much for me, but no doubt for top guys like ChrisB, GuyK, etc. same question to Biz/Ev)?? what can we do as users to capture and export that?? have you guys got some API/expert standards agreed with other social networks?? I would hate for my years of time/energy investments to lay wasted..
3.) what can Twitter do for those of us who are not fame seeker and would like to engage but only mostly with qualified individuals? (not just verified celebrities/bloggers, there are more common people who's voice need to be heard etc.)
=== more reasons for asking below:
Namely, the "potential danger" of Convergence of Social media/network.. one example is my personal experiences and reason for 'choosing LinkedIn' .. which I am a firm supporter/user since 2000 (if not before? could you check for me from your system?)
I chose to use LinkedIn back in 2004 as the platform of choice for the creation of MBA alumni group (for Cass Business School, we were first few batches of group trials) was that I saw LinkedIn was the better system where the Quality of people were much higher and more pervasive (across different industries & countries) than others (like ecademy, OpenBC/Xing, AsmallWorld etc.)
Reason for choosing LinkedIn was that it was simple, non invasive/busy, but value adding, essentially, 'linked' and qualified CVs and experiences/endorsements between others.. which was main benefits I tried to convince my senior business contacts to start using it.. since 2004.
My business had always been Business to Business (B2B), and so, do not need /care much about the blogging world (for me black art), nor Twitter. I had a twitter a/c for one year before I started using it properly towards end of 08.. I am an earnest user but still prefer my privacy, and use it mostly to keep in touch with my existing contacts but limited way reach out to some new contacts (properly only 20% if not less).
My personal goals of networking is focus on mostly quality over quantity when I can, based on years of networking experience so far, the typical response from senior executives (who rarely use internet[other than emails], let alone social networks) would take them 2-4years to respond/accept and start using social network like LinkedIn.
[It is hard work, as even fellow MBAs don't join, Jonathan Kestenbaum, CEO of Nesta who interviewed you guys is a fellow Cass MBA, but we are in contact, but he does not use social network, most CXOs I know (say 80+%) don't as they are too busy, some even have schedules down to 15min slots! probably like Reid]
Twitter I find useful personally (read filtered/recommended blogs & short communication) but majority of B2B people do NOT, in fact, they see it as self indulgence and looking for glory (yes, they said that we are)..
Do you guys have any plans/works in understanding the needs/wants for those that are not yet part of the 'mash-up' world??
Seems to me everyone is trying to do their own thing in the silicon valley and focusing on how best to next exit (secretly), as no, everyone is NOT thinking about exit, but sadly thats what is happening, typical turnaround as I see it is 2/3 years (LinkedIn excluded)..
It is only sustainable if the system & mash-up will entice/encourage new established people to join (rather than people that change roles/jobs/startup on a bi-annual basis)..
what can us normal bricks & mortar people do? my years of investment of time & connections and good will/ endorsements.
Of course, this is my personal point of view, despite I have over 2,000 connnections on LinkedIn, I have met every single one of them and we are in conversations etc. one way or another,but my capacity is already maxed out.
So, really respect @StephenFry for being our role model to lead 1m people.. but hey, he is super intellectual major celebrity.. (whom I managed to shake hands with.).. cheers to you Stephen (not that I can do what you do in a million years!)
I hope above make sense.. if not, it is not my fault but please help me to rephrase them.. gotta rest now, and getting up as usual in 4hours..
BR
@GarethWong
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