That’s the sub-title of the Forrester report on Social Computing that came out last month, and that I just got around to reading. Steve Rubel is right — it’s a great read. Charlene Li and Chris Charron do a terrific job of synthesis (disclosure: yes, I know the authors). Individual elements of their argument will be familiar to anyone with a newsreader, but collectively, woven together with great supporting evidence from their consumer data (the internet is the only form of media in which consumer trust is rising), the report serves as a must-read for understanding the cultural and economic impact of all the stuff (RSS, blogs, open source, P2P, tagging, etc.) that they call Social Computing. A sample:
Powered by the growing use of open protocols like XML and RSS, new applications like instant messaging, widgets, voice over IP, and blogs make user-to-user connections smarter and more frequent. One important example of a “smarter” connective technology: presence, the ability to see the online status of a person or thing. By knowing who and what can collaborate in real time, consumers spend 26% more time on communications like instant messaging each year. The social impact: By eliminating the drag on communications velocity, social forces move more quickly.
If you need to get the CEO of your organization smart fast, hand her a copy of this report.
