judith meskill - soc.media.rocks

Owen Winkler created a Blog Software Breakdown chartrecently of the various options and features associated with fourteen different 'install on your own server' webloggingenvironments. In Owen's own words here are some criteria for software he did not include as potentialcontenders for this comprehensive chart:

I did not include tools like Blogger or Six Apart thinks is best for me. I did not include packages with desktop applications for the same reasons.

I also did not include generic CMS software; only blog-making software. This excludes software like Drupal and phpNuke. I'm sure you can make a great blog with this software, but there are two things that I found in common the these packages: Either they were too configurable (Drupal, Typo3), or they looked like one of those h4x0r community sites. C'mon, you know what I'm talking about - phpNuke on phpBB. They're fine for keeping a weblog, more community and file-service oriented.

Owen goes on to outline three deciding factors that most influenced his final choicePretty GUI, Free, andSupportin great detail in his BlogwareChoice post.

And the winner is WordPress!

But, please read Owen's comprehensive chart and blogging software choice criteria for the full story. Thanks to Lee LeFever for the tip… (-:=

Jerry Michalski and I have been weaving wiki ways into our corporate consulting co-presentations quiteregularly lately. Jerry is as on fire as I am about creating clearer channels of communication and collaboration forcorporations (love that alliteration!).

Therefore, we were both quitejazzed to see that Rob Hof writes a very positive piece forBusinessWeek Wikis' Winning Ways.

And, our favorite client presentation environment Socialtext, receives kudosfor being "...a fairly buttoned-down service…" and a good wiki starting point for corporations. Most excellent, Go Ross Mayfield and the Socialtext Team!

Other hosted environs metioned in this article EditMe, and TeamFlux.

The utilization of wikis and weblogs in the corporate environment actually makes a great deal of sense. Especiallyin how teams collaborate and co-author their working environments.

Hmm, now that we have 'p-logs' or 'project-logs'will someone also come up with 'p-wikis'? Or even better, since wehave 'k-logs' or 'knowledge-logs'do I also hear 'k-wikis'?

Well, there is actually a fairly well established 'k-wiki', and DenhamGrey is the steward of what is probably the largest 'k-wiki' or KmWiki in the world. (-:=

Rob Hof also tips his virtual hat to Ward Cunninghamthe father of wiki invention. And he offers a number ofdifferent examples of wiki implementations Wikipedia (ofcourse!), Meatball Wiki, Tourbus Wiki, The Tolkien Wiki, and Trek Wiki.

And thus concludes my 'lyrical wiki waxing' for the week… (-:=

Last evening Sean Bonner and I were IMchatting about a Doc Searls post about a Brian Dear post (LARGE490x2055 image) about a topic thatWeblogs, Inc.'s Jason Calacanis, our master tracker of trends, has beenkeeping an eye on for some time now Alexa's traffic analysistool.

In his How's Traffic? post, Brian Dear muses about adown trending, at times only slight, in traffic to sites like eBay, Amazon, and AOL. And then he includes illustrationsof a steady climb in traffic to social networking sites like Tickle, and Orkut (among others).

I'd like to add a few more significantly upward trending sites from The Social Networking Services MetaList:
 

Myspace.com,

Thefacebook.com,and
 

Asia FriendFinder.

Dina Mehta takes a break from her break to pass on this comic originally posted by Jan Karlsbjerg:

Hmmm, a great prelude to the next stage of the Corporate Weblogging Pitch Contest by the Judging Panelists?

Need a kick start to get this summer pitching fun going. Or, should I postpone to the fall?

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…
 
Actually on 11 May 2004, Matt Mower 'IM'ed me that he and PaoloValdemarin (both of evectors and k-collector fame) had been talking about arranging a "SocialNetworking for Enterprises" event in London.
 
They were inspired by the fact that both Stowe Boyd and I are going to be in Nice, France to present at the iDate conference on 15-16 July 2004. Stoweand I had both, separately, expressed our individual interests in getting together with our EU cohort for some type ofevent.
 
Subsequently, on 18 May 2004, there was an IRC chat with a number of folksincluding Matt Mower, Marc Canter, MartinRoell, Ross Mayfield (host of the Social Tools forEnterprises Symposium Socialtext space), Paolo Valdemarin, Lilia Efimova, Lee Bryant, Suw Charman, a number ofothers, and myself. Since that daymany emails and IM chats laterthis event has really begun to take shape. Largelythanks to the un-flagging efforts of Matt Mower. Go Matt!
 
In London, on 12 July 2004, there will be an "event aimed to be a practical get go for CxO's in Enterprises as to howsocial tools & methods can help them with problems like insufficient collaboration, low innovation and unmanagedrisk" according to some early thoughts from Matt Mower'sweblog…
 
Stowe posts a link to the venue information for this London Symposium, scheduled to take place at the Bloomsbury Square Training Centre and which is nowbeing organized by KM Cluster.
 
More as the date continues to draw nearer… (-:=

Mobile Social Networking is moving right along…

Hey SocialSoftwareWeblog - Just a heads up that dodgeball.com - "friendster for mobile phones" - just launced in 5 new cities: Austin, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, and Washington DC. http://www.dodgeball.com Thanks.

I am working on a new post featuring Mobile Social Networkingif you would like me to include mention of your MobileSocial Networking Solution, and you think I don't know about your service, then drop me a comment on this post, or atip through the 'Participate' box in the right hand column of this weblog. (-:=

Thanks ever so much to Peter Caputa's, Monster Buys Tickle, who in turnattributes to Rafat Ali's PaidContent, for theheads up on this announcementas I was totally distracted by other events in my life today!
 
According to the Business Wire press release that was alsoin my newsreader:

Tickle has also proven to be a strong viral marketing engine, as more than 200,000 e-mails from Tickle members are sent each day encouraging others to join.

"The acquisition of Tickle brings a powerful new dimension to Monster, contributing proven consumer revenue-generating subscription offerings and unique interactive content that should enhance every site in our network of properties," said Andrew J. McKelvey, Chairman and CEO of Monster Worldwide. "Tickle's expertise in career assessment testing, networking and matching, combined with the viral nature of those businesses, dovetails perfectly with Monster's vast user base. With scientific research at its foundation, Tickle adds yet another layer to Monster's screening and hiring tools, providing recruiters a window into a candidate's personality and work preferences that goes beyond past achievements to who they are and their fit within the hiring organization. As part of our long-term strategy, we have been committed to diversifying our revenue streams and to expanding our consumer online services. Tickle is the ideal business to help us achieve these goals."

The addition of Tickle's services will enable job seekers on Monster to access a variety of career assessment tests ranging from "Right Job, Wrong Job" and " Career Personality" to "Career Interest Inventory" and "The Corporate Culture Test" to learn more about their aptitudes, job skills and career goals. Based on the test findings, job seekers will be able to better determine which job positions are the best fit based on their individual profiles.

Here's a new one for the YASNSMeta List. Interested in double dating?

eTwine is going for multiple conceptsdating, event planning, socialnetworking, group dating, bloggingall in an effort to help you to tie up your social life. (-:=

I have been posting about the WWW2004, the Semantic Web, and new knowledgemanagement projects over on my knowledge notes weblog over the past few days. Whilst researching those posts I found anarticle Berners-Lee Keeps WWW2004 Focused on SemanticWebby Paul Ford on O'Reilly's XML.com.
 
Paul opens thusly:

A peculiar buzz is back in the halls of WWW2004 the mix of hubris and geek name dropping, cheap suits and over-eager handshakes that last prevailed in 2000. "I nearly invented the web," says a fellow with a large stack of promotional postcards advertising new social networking software. "People are downloading our new XML API almost before we upload it," said another, making introductions to anyone who wanders within distance.

Will YASNS be getting on the Semantic WebBus?

It's not very often that I find Social Computing in the news buttoday in the Globe and Mail there is anannouncement that Bell Canada has made a commitment to fund research that will focus primarily on wireless technologyand social computing:

VANCOUVER, May 20 Bell Canada has announced a $1.25-million commitment to the University of British Columbia to support technology research. The five-year commitment is the first in Western Canada for the Bell University Laboratories program.

Bell is exploring a number of potential projects with researchers at UBC and creating a governance process with equal UBC and Bell representation. Research projects will focus on wireless technology and social computing. The $1.25-million for UBC represents a five-year, annual commitment of $250,000.

Janet Sun, Vice President of Marketing for Experience, Inc.,tipped me on May 10, 2004 (oops… guess I've been traveling too much lately… (-:=):

Experience Inc. Unveils First-of-its-Kind Alumni Career Service Online Networking, Smart Web Search and Robust Jobs ResourceOur key differentiator is that we work with schools and foster community around the college experience, and also provide job board and career resources. We launched last Wednesday and already have 5,000 people using it!

The press release that Janet attached also mentions that:

Experience has been a leader in the alumni career services market through its eProNet service, an alumni recruiting site that serves 30 of the nation's top schools, including Caltech, Columbia, Duke, MIT, Stanford, Northwestern and Yale. Experience Network for Alumni is being initially rolled out to over 500 universities that currently use the company's eRecruiting system to support undergraduate career services, offering their alumni enhanced career opportunities and guidance.

Kaliya Hamlin tipped me to The PlaNetwork InterActive that will betaking place at the San Francisco Presidio on June 5-6, 2004:

Planetwork's next large scale annual event will bring Ben Cohen from True Majority, Joan Blades from MoveOn, and other leaders of online activism together with a multidisciplinary community of social change agents and technologists who are using the Internet to organize for positive change in this election year. Themes will include:
• Internet Activism: Online Organizing Strategies
Opportunities and Lessons for 2004
• Electronic Voting: Vote Early, Vote Often
New Technological Challenges for Democracy
• Social Networking for Social Good: Linking Social
Network Software as a New Global Commons

To read more about this 2004 conference, please visit the PlaNetwork website which cautions that space is limited, and advisesus to register now...

According to a Yahoo! press release Evite Selected asFandango's Online Invitation Service.
 
Through Fandango's Evite your friends! service you pick the movie, invite yourfriends, your friends agonize over whether they want to see the movie you want to see, you all vote on which showtimeworks best, and then everyone can click back to Fandango to purchase their tickets in advance.
 
Movie Night out with the Fandango Bag Puppets… Mmm, charming… (-:=

...or InternetDating Goes Gray...
 
Online dating is bigger than everand growing exponentially among 'Graying Americans'.

According to CatherineSaillant for the Chicago Tribune: The singles trend is expected to explode after 2011, as the baby boomgeneration enters its golden years with liberalized attitudes about sex, cohabitation and personal satisfaction. Attheir peak, boomers will drive the over-65 population up to 25% from just under 13% today.
 
Through my ongoing research, I have been noticing a definite uptick in Gray-oriented social networking anddating services 50 Something, 50 YearsPlus, Mature Dating.org, Senior Dating Exchange, SeniorsCircle, Senior Friend Finder, Spicy Senior Singles, M4MSeniors, and Single Seniorsbut according to Catherine Saillant,seniors are also regularly utilizing mainstream sites such as Eharmony.com and Match.com (where registrations bysingles >65 grew 122% last year) for their dating adventures.

AARP's future is looking bright… (-:=

Stanford University inCircles their alum, as does the University of Southern California, and now the University of Michigan intends to inCirle their alumni as well.
 
These three university alumni associations are utlizing AffinityEngines' inCircle product which was developed at the computer science department at Stanford University and offers,among other features, a graphical representation of the connections between members that is user determined andsearchable.
 
Affinity Engines describes their product as:

inCircle ™ the product suite engineered to drive traffic to an affinity group such as a college alumni association – was developed within the computer science department at Stanford University with an emphasis on privacy, security, and integration with legacy systems.The proprietary software can be customized, although the design is straightforward and easy to use. For example, a graphical image displays the connections between members, including their friends, friends-of-friends, and so on. Any member can search the graph and find people in their network who like to play golf, travel to Cuba, or work at Google.

An excellent context for the viral nature of YASNS.