I thought that it might be helpful to look at some of the basic conditions under which some of the better social-media practitioners work today.
First, social-media tools are, by nature social. The savviest understand this condition and take great care to build a "social sense" into their programs. For example: (1) ensuring that people with social skills are chosen - or allowed to emerge - to lead projects; (2) appealing to both the group and individual needs of the participants; and (3), where it makes sense, building communities (social networks/hubs) around particular topics/services as a way to scale a population of users. Case studies from social software vendors like ATLASSIAN and Socialtext almost all point to innovation around these three conditions.
Even though the rules trump the tools in social media, it's important to remember that the digital world is different - generally, it operates more inclusively, openly, and efficiently. So, in addition to being well versed in the social rules, you'll need to understand some of the light-mathematical subtleties about the Internet, and look for interesting ways to innovate around commonplace principles such as the "long tail" (the value of niche markets and conversations), the wisdom of crowds (peer production), and power-law distributions (the influence of well-networked participants). But these rules, too, might be considered social rules but for the fact that they operate in the digital world.
Finally, some of the leading proponents of social media appear to be saying that these new rules and tools provide businesses with a better way to do old things. This has been a point of frustration for those who are old enough to remember earlier collaboration technologies, and the promises that were made each time those technologies were introduced. As a result, many champions of social media are being forced to make comparisons between the old and the new, and to make the case that social media is in fact something different.
So, is social media in the enterprise "The Next Big Thing?" Jevon MacDonald says Enterprise 2.0 is already happening, you're just missing it. I just so happen to agree with Jevon!
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