(^31) ■
THE NEW ROLE: SOCIAL INTERACTIONS
employees of a business—the likelihood of meaningful interaction, of collaboration, is
signifi cantly increased. This kind of collaborative, shared experience drives the produc-
tion and exchange of information (experiences) within a customer community and just
as well within an organization. It works for Yelp, and it works in business networks
connecting manufacturers with suppliers and employees with each other. The key to all
of these is building relationships and providing relevant, meaningful opportunity for
personal interaction.
The Social Graph
The social graph is the collection of links, relationships, interactions and other connections that
comprise a social network. Wikipedia has more on social graphs here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_GraphRelationships and interactions are typically built around a set of primary partici-
pant activities. This section covers three of the primary actions: friending and follow-
ing, reputation management, and moderation along with the development of conduct
and use policies (aka Terms of Use) that are essential to maintaining a healthy, col-
laborative environment. Each of these plays a fundamental role in developing purpose-
driven communities—think support sites, supplier networks, and employee knowledge
sharing—and, therefore, in implementing a successful social business strategy.
People Want to Make Friends
Friending—the mutually acknowledged linking of profi les within or across defi ned
communities—is the cornerstone of collaborative social interaction. Just as in real life,
the various relationships that exist between profi les (people) often imply certain aspects
of both the nature of the expected interactions and the context for them. Relationships
at a club or church are different in context—and therefore in expectation —from
relationships in a workplace, for example: When someone elects to follow another
on Twitter, or inside an employee network built on a platform like SocialText, there
is likewise an expectation of value received in exchange for the follower relationship,
all within the context of the network in which this relationship has been established.
People create relationships to exchange value, at some level, with the others in and
through that relationship.
Compared with a website—where navigating a self-service library of content is
a typical interaction path—the extension of a link between profi les and the formation
of a relationship between the people they represent is a fundamental requirement for
value exchange between community members. Without these links, people can post
content, rate submissions, and similar—but to what end? YouTube is a great example
The Social Graph
The social graph is the collection of links, relationships, interactions and other connections that
comprise a social network. Wikipedia has more on social graphs here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Graph