Watching BBC’s Panorama last night I was surprised to see that NI’s sectarian fights had been taken online, particularly the award-winning Bebo. At one point in 2006 the online hostility got so bad: “Representatives of Bebo.com even attended a public meeting in Ballymena in 2006 with an aim to quelling the sectarian tension not on the streets, but online – a 21st century twist to a centuries-old division.” Just checked out Bebo, which has a great page with all the Bebo people on board.
Hmm, I’m sure the good folk at Small World Collaboration would see the wisdom in this analysis of the evoltuion of KM into social networking, reported in ‘Computing’:
Social networking is posh knowledge management
Whatever happened to knowledge management? The question is posed in the latest edition of System House, analyst Ovum’s monthly review of the UK IT industry. Christopher Harris-Jones and Mike Davis recognise knowledge management was a hot phrase in the 1990s, but has become less popular recently.
Rather than disappearing, Harris-Jones and Davis suggest knowledge management has changed its shape – and more – importantly, its name.
Successful knowledge management was all about making the best use of available data and skills and the Ovum analysts say the latest social networking trend follows similar lines, simply proving a way for individuals to share information.
To make the most of the collaborative opportunities presented through social networking, Harris-Jones and Davis suggest social software needs to be integrated with other information management technologies, such as content management.
And in other words, social networking is not – as is commonly perceived – a revolution; instead it is just another means for sharing and exploiting information. Roll-on the next craze.