Thursday, November 24, 2005
People, Purpose and Policies...
The People of the Sun blogroll are enormously varied. The overwhelming marjority are writing about things that are so technical that I can't quite understand what they are writing about, but I read on anyway.
There are more women blogging than I expected--that is a topic that was on our minds when I attended the local Chapel Hill blogging meet-up. There were only a few women that would attend that group and so the topic of whether or not women as a rule blog came up a few times. Men thought that women blogged more on personal than technical things, but I have not noticed that on the Sun blogs, probably due to the nature of their jobs.
Preece describes people as the "pulse of the community (p. 82)", with varying roles, and requiring "reciprocity for the group to survive (quoting Rheingold, 1994)". It is interesting that there does not seem to be any defined roles when you click on the main sun employee blog page. I'm sure the employees know that Dave is the Roller software creator and team leader, but otherwise, there is no mention of roles. It is also obvious that Jonathan Schwarz as the COO is considered the head-honcho blogger, but the blogroll is listed in order of hits and his is not always at the top of the list (one day I check he is #7, the day after Thanksgiving he is #1!)--this is democracy in the blogosphere.
The Purpose of the Sun blogs is very simple. Preece (2000) remarks that a purpose with "clearly stated goals attract other people with similar goals (p. 81)."
Welcome to Blogs.sun.com! This space is accessible to any Sun employee to write about anything.
The Sun Policy on Public Discourse deserves further attention because I think this is a good model for other organizations. Schwarz, whether knowing Preece's suggestions or not, follows several of her ideas, including reminding people of the appropriate "style of communication, netiquette, and accepted conduct."
* Schwarz starts by admitting to his employees that he is taking a risk by encouraging them to blog
* He reminds them, as their boss, that there are financial and legal matters to remember, but also sounds like their head cheerleader, reminding them to let the world know how smart they are
* He also reminds them that it is the company's job to provide them with the tools to not only do their job, but to blog about it (I want to work for Sun.)
For other organizations emulating Sun's blogging efforts, Preece highlights an issue more important to corporate communities than other types, e.g. nonprofits: stickiness. Figallo (1998) defines stickiness as something that holds and attracts online visitors to your site (or blog). This is important for community members to want to come back again and feel like they are a part of building the community. Authentic dialogue from your employees sharing their expertise with your consumers will be one way to create stickiness.
There are more women blogging than I expected--that is a topic that was on our minds when I attended the local Chapel Hill blogging meet-up. There were only a few women that would attend that group and so the topic of whether or not women as a rule blog came up a few times. Men thought that women blogged more on personal than technical things, but I have not noticed that on the Sun blogs, probably due to the nature of their jobs.
Preece describes people as the "pulse of the community (p. 82)", with varying roles, and requiring "reciprocity for the group to survive (quoting Rheingold, 1994)". It is interesting that there does not seem to be any defined roles when you click on the main sun employee blog page. I'm sure the employees know that Dave is the Roller software creator and team leader, but otherwise, there is no mention of roles. It is also obvious that Jonathan Schwarz as the COO is considered the head-honcho blogger, but the blogroll is listed in order of hits and his is not always at the top of the list (one day I check he is #7, the day after Thanksgiving he is #1!)--this is democracy in the blogosphere.
The Purpose of the Sun blogs is very simple. Preece (2000) remarks that a purpose with "clearly stated goals attract other people with similar goals (p. 81)."
Welcome to Blogs.sun.com! This space is accessible to any Sun employee to write about anything.
The Sun Policy on Public Discourse deserves further attention because I think this is a good model for other organizations. Schwarz, whether knowing Preece's suggestions or not, follows several of her ideas, including reminding people of the appropriate "style of communication, netiquette, and accepted conduct."
* Schwarz starts by admitting to his employees that he is taking a risk by encouraging them to blog
* He reminds them, as their boss, that there are financial and legal matters to remember, but also sounds like their head cheerleader, reminding them to let the world know how smart they are
* He also reminds them that it is the company's job to provide them with the tools to not only do their job, but to blog about it (I want to work for Sun.)
For other organizations emulating Sun's blogging efforts, Preece highlights an issue more important to corporate communities than other types, e.g. nonprofits: stickiness. Figallo (1998) defines stickiness as something that holds and attracts online visitors to your site (or blog). This is important for community members to want to come back again and feel like they are a part of building the community. Authentic dialogue from your employees sharing their expertise with your consumers will be one way to create stickiness.
