LinkedIn and the power of networks

I used to think of LinkedIn as a boring but worthy social network for business contacts. But I was wrong. Over the years it has become a critical B2B social network, with multi-million dollar deals often being done via the platform. LinkedIn has also disrupted the recruitment business and reshaped the way people find jobs. It changed the power dynamic in recruitment by enabling the jobs to … Continue reading LinkedIn and the power of networks

The future of business is the future of technology

Recently Rebecca Nash from ABC’s The Business asked me to consider the future of business over the next decade. Here’s some thoughts from that conversation. The future of business has always been driven by developments in technology, and the digital revolution is of equivalent substance to the previous industrial revolution. This has important implications for the future of business. Manufacturing will not die but it … Continue reading The future of business is the future of technology

Real time, right time – it’s all about ‘me’ – so what about Twitter?

A recent article The Future of Mobile is Right Time Experiences by Maribel Lopez got me thinking about mobile and the future of the web. It is an especially important topic to consider now that Twitter is seeking to further control and constrain the way that its users interact. A good outline of the issues at play here is Nick Bilton’s piece: For Twitter-Owned Apps … Continue reading Real time, right time – it’s all about ‘me’ – so what about Twitter?

What will change the world? Welcome to the hive mind of Twitter.

One of the things I love about Twitter is the way it enables serendipity on a grand scale.  Recently, I can’t remember how, I ran across @blogbrevity (a.k.a Angela Dunn) whose Twitter feed resonated with me and we followed each other. On June 9th she invited me to join #Ideachat – Twitter Chat & Salon for Twitter Thinkers About “Ideas”. The topic for discussion was … Continue reading What will change the world? Welcome to the hive mind of Twitter.

What’s the big idea with social media? #media140

I was lucky enough to be invited to Media 140 in Perth recently to discuss what the ‘big idea’ is with social media. The idea was for a context setting discussion about social media and how it is changing business and society. DIGITAL REVOLUTION We are living through a digital revolution that is changing the world we inhabit as absolutely and as irrevocably as the … Continue reading What’s the big idea with social media? #media140

Authenticity online – not necessary, perhaps essential or Kitteh vs Chickin

This talk by Bitly’s Matt LeMay at Monki Gras entitled: Kitteh vs Chickin: How What We Share is Different from What we Click is important and is really worth watching. This talk gives us some really important insights into the changed world we now inhabit.  The world in which our passing fancies and offhand comments were written on the wind has passed into history.  Now most things that we … Continue reading Authenticity online – not necessary, perhaps essential or Kitteh vs Chickin

There’s a fraction too much friction! Customers, service, and staff.

While trawling around on YouTube recently I came across a 1980s video of Tim Finn’s There’s a Fraction too much Friction and it got me thinking about the things that annoy me  in dealing with businesses. I concluded that the source of my irritation is friction. I have long observed that business has many things in common with war, and friction is probably the thing … Continue reading There’s a fraction too much friction! Customers, service, and staff.

Connectedness – it’s not just a technology thing, it’s a people thing

For many years now my friends, colleagues and I have been talking and thinking about the hyperconnections made available to us by the growth of the internet, telecommunications devices and networks, and social platforms. For a good background on it check out Mark Pesce and Ross Dawson. But I think that we have reached a state in our evolution as human where the practices of … Continue reading Connectedness – it’s not just a technology thing, it’s a people thing

The growth of the recommendation economy

Seth Godin wrote about the the attention economy. But it seems to me that we are also seeing the evolution of an online social recommendation economy. When we all lived in villages there was a strong recommendation economy, and it was fuelled by the fact that everyone knew each other and their reputation. Word of mouth drove choices about which business to patronise and which … Continue reading The growth of the recommendation economy

The evolving power shift and our hyperconnected society

As we move away from the power structures and ways of thinking that governed the twentieth century we are seeing a desperate rearguard action from the power elites who ruled that time. Dying Dinosaur Industries in their Death Throes A good example of this is the film and music industries, whose centralized model of creation and distribution is breaking down. The proposed US anti-piracy legislation … Continue reading The evolving power shift and our hyperconnected society