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c h a p t e r8 :ENGAGEMENT ON THE SOCIAL WEB■happen, there is a ready solution. Who among us is perfect, right? This last point is
actually worth considering: Again calling back to engagement as a participative, col-
laborative experience, these higher levels of engagement are essential in building dura-
ble, long-term advocates.What Else Can I Do?
In addition to support applications, also consider the role of discussion forums.
Discussion forums—the long-standing staple of member-to-member communica-
tions—offer an easy-to-implement collaborative platform. The twist is this: In addi-
tion to members, your own employees can also participate. The rule to recall is
this: Any time an employee (or anyone else with a nonobvious interest in the brand,
product, or service) is participating, a clear disclosure must be made. This is another
reason why time spent early on—preferably with your legal support team and HR,
developing effective, relevant social computing policies and then distributing these
throughout your organization—is time well spent.
Discussion forums are particularly useful in providing both engaging activities,
and in surfacing ideas that provide insights into future innovations with the built-in
benefit of having been generated by customers. Visit any of the Meredith Publishing
properties: Better Homes and Gardens, American Baby, or any of its roughly 20 other
online properties. Powered by Pluck, now part of the Demand Media online commu-
nity solution set, Meredith Publishing has implemented a set of communities that facili-
tate both extensions of the (print) magazine articles and activities, and provide ideas
and direction for future magazine as well as online subjects and activities.
Collaboration extends beyond business: Nonprofits, NGOs, and governmen-
tal agencies themselves are all part of the social business evolution. In an especially
insightful remark, Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada Emeritus, noted the
following:
“Governments will collaborate with experts, lobbyists, trade organizations,
and service partners. Policy will therefore evolve and the citizen will become
more engaged in the political process. To my mind social media will deliver
one of the greatest leaps forward in democratic participation seen yet in our
world. Government had better be ready.”
In India, the work and writing of Shashi Tharoor has been significantly pro-
moted both within and outside this democratic country through social media and the
Social Web. Mr. Tharoor, no stranger himself to the challenges that can sometimes
arise out of the use of the Social Web, is a leading intellectual figure in the application
of social technologies to the tasks and processes of building constituencies around, and
providing a voice for, social media participants.