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c h a p t e r4 :THE SOCIAL BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM■members of a social network and the interactions, activities, and relationships that con-
nect specific profiles on the Social Web. In perhaps the simplest view, the social graph
defines the way in which one profile is connected to another, through a friendship rela-
tionship perhaps. Because the profile itself is tied to a person—however vaguely that
profile may have been defined—there is a sense of accountability and belonging that
translates into shared responsibility between those so connected. This relationship might
be highly asymmetric: Robert Scoble’s individual fans may get more from him than he
gets from any one of them. Nonetheless, there is a set of rules and expectations that
define these relationships, and in doing so set up the value-based transaction and knowl-
edge exchange that ultimately occurs between participants on the Social Web.
Understanding the construction of the social graph in the context of the profiles
(people) collecting around your brand is essential in creating an organic social presence.
Go back to the core challenge of effective participation on the Social Web: How do you
participate without being branded as a “self interested only.” Your firm or organization
needs to assert its relevance and then deliver through utility, emotion, or gained knowl-
edge some sort of tangible value if it is to develop a strong bond with your customers
that outlast contests, advertising spending, and other direct incentives aimed at driving
early involvement with the online social presence of the brand, product, or service.
What are the first steps in developing a social presence where this can happen?
You go where your customers are: Look to the existing communities such as LinkedIn,
Orkut, or Facebook and create an appropriate place within them for your business or
organization. As you work your way into these communities you’ll discover (or confirm)
what or where you can add value. By participating, actively listening, and understanding
and tracking influencers, you’ll see the relationships, interactions, and needs that exist
within the community, and which intersect with the value proposition of your business or
organization. That is your entry point, and one on which you can build your presence.Social Applications
Taking the four basic building blocks together—consumption, curation, creation, and
collaboration—one possible model (there are many) for driving engagement emerges.
Engagement can be tapped for marketing purposes by anchoring it within the context
of the basic social structures—communities, social applications, and similar—and then
connecting these back to your brand, product, or service. In this section, social appli-
cations are the focus.
The basic process of engagement begins with content consumption and builds up
to collaboration between participants in the creative process. This is the kind of activ-
ity that binds community members together. Taking off on this, there are specific social
applications—forums, collaborative tools, contests, and games among them—that you
can implement under your own brand to lead your participants through the steps of
engagement that drive your business.