Nintendo Wii, Social Networking and Business Community Management October 9, 2007
Posted by mukundmohan in News.Tags: BCM, Business Community Management, Business Community Nintendo Wii, Charlene Li, Social Networks
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John Ince has created a video series with Charlene Li, a Senior Analyst at Forrester Research, entitled What is the Future of Social Networking?
Though focused on Social Networking, we found Part 1 & Part 2 interesting and very relevant to Business Community Management.
At the core of social networks and the BCM model is connectedness. She envisions social network transformation as a driving economic force much as business community management empowers collaborative economic activity.
Charlene gives an example of a community of Wii buyers and sellers that connect via Google Group. They’ve cornered a significant market share of the popular gaming devices to resell at a premium online.
Essentially what this group has done is create upstream and downstream visibility into the Wii supply chain, giving them a unique competitive advantage. By mapping out distribution points, they’re able to capture an already scarce supply of games at a retail outlet before the average consumer is aware they’re available.
In the 2nd video, Charlene discusses how social networks are evolving in unexpected ways. Rapid innovation makes it difficult to predict the future, though she offers insight based on her significant experience. Large social network platforms will remain viable as long as the users find value in them, but fragmentation is inevitable.
Economically speaking, smaller groups well integrated through Web & API services offer a more powerful model than the large random distribution of millions of users on a single platform. The key is the connector that reduces friction allowing for users to build a platform that works best for their enterprise.
The Bottom Line: The future is unpredictable, but the trends toward social and business networking point toward user group empowerment through collaboration.
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