The Equity Kicker - Latest Comments in You need features to manage groups – an example

Re: You need features to manage groups – an example

ivanpope — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 18:18:37 -0000

There's a real problem with Groups on Facebook. There are no moderating tools. In fact - there are no tools. So now you've got a group that anyone can join. It may grow to be a large group -
Web 2.0 (Entrepreneurs) has over 17,000 members. Problem is - there is absolutely no point to these groups. OnSartups doesn't even seem to try to set out an agenda for the membership - so it will end up as a pool of opportunistic and undifferentiated meanderings.
Sutely there's an opportunity for someone to build 'Supergroups' for Facebook with a bit of oomph - like collaboration, sub-grouping, communication, archive etc tools? Otherwise we're just playing silly numbers games.

Re: You need features to manage groups – an example

Roth — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:23:33 -0000

Doesn't it seem like all of the feature sets on groups pages are relatively identical? Even facebook offers nothing different or new than any other site. Groups should be about engaging the user base and sharing collaboratively. The two tools that are missing almost entirely from group pages are presence awareness and creative collaboration. Allowing users to create together would be nice, i.e. wikis.

Discussions are difficult at best and rarely evolve into powerful, meaningful dialog unless they are in real-time. Facebook's group pages are essentially the same as profile pages in terms of interaction and engagement. I give credit to facebook as they allow group members to create community photo albums.

Do you think that making these platforms presence aware would increase the effectiveness of group tools as a whole? I feel that real-time communication coupled with collaboration and the usual feature set would increase my usage and enjoyment level. Dynamic, interactive, personal group chat rooms?

Re: You need features to manage groups – an example

nic — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 07:57:18 -0000

Indeed James. And it has been a similar blogoshpere revolt against Apple that has forced Steve Jobs to offer $100 credit to anyone who paid the original high price for their iPhone.

Re: You need features to manage groups – an example

James V — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 07:52:01 -0000

Nic

It is interesting what you say about the increasing power of social networking groups.

Last week, HSBC reversed its decision to take away students’ interest-free overdrafts as soon as they leave university after it suffered a consumer revolt by graduates on the pages of Facebook. Today, Eric Knight, a New York-based shareholder activist requested HSBC to undertake a fundamental review of the group’s strategy and is setting up a social networking site to garner support.

Companies have been able to dismiss or ignore blog rants (like LinkedIn groups) as the audience has generally been quite narrow.

Facebook's more public social networking groups, as a collective voice forces companies to listen to their customers and is likely to exponentially increase activism as consumers grasp their power in numbers.

PR companies urgently need to become the ever vigilant eyes and ears to manage and protect enterprises and organisations from widely broadcast blogs, rumours and smears in a fully connected world.

Today HSBC, tomorrow the world.

Best regards

James Vinall
LastMile