Following up on the post on Charlene Li / , the The Havard Business Publishing interview with Groundswell co-author Josh Bernoff is also worth watching.

The interview is below, are there are some  good takeaways for organisations who are trying to socialize their operations such as identifying and addressing one core objective with stakeholders -  and building on this success to create momentum.

However, what is not covered here are the challenges of cultural / organisational change which  in our experience  are the key to really realising the value from corporate social networks.

Over the last few hours we’ve seen the newish Twitter lists feature disabled and vanish from our screens only to return again apparently completely back to normal. It caused ‘Twitter Lists’ quickly became a high trending topic and quite a lot of concern for many.

During the outage I spent some time meeting with Brenton Cannizzaro from an amazing digital agency in Adelaide, enpresiv, which came about entirely from a Twitter connection and my inclusion on one of his lists. Whilst I’ve now got his business card and therefore his personal details, prior to that, the only place I had stored his details were on Twitter - if they vanished, so too would Brenton from my database.

All is obviously good now with Twitter Lists and it was only a tiny window of downtime but, it got me thinking about what would happen if:

a) Twitter lists never came back

or

b) Lists returned but some of the people on it had been deleted or altered in some way

All that hard work categorising your friends on Twitter, creating a list that had just totally vanished and there’d be little you could do about it because you don’t have any control over Twitter.

It also reminded me I’d promised to post some highlights from Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith so this first one fits perfectly:

The authors talk about the importance of social networks and working at connecting with people on the web as a means of increasing opportunities for you / your business / organisation.

You Live or Die by Your Database

This section discusses your own personal database of connections, the representation of your personal network in a searchable form. Even if you’re a cog in a corporate machine, if you’re not in the business of building your own database of contacts, then you have to start. Now.

…one’s personal database was an asset as valuable as gold, if nurtured and maintained.

However, they stress it is important to maintain your own database away from online platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Why?

Because you can never fully trust that your database online will be accessible, that your account will stay up, and that your data or account won’t become corrupt.

To us, storing a local copy ensures that you control the database at all times. If, as we say, you live or die by your database why would you trust a third party with its ultimate intergity.

So, the short lived AWOL Twitter Lists are back but what would happen if your LinkedIn contacts vanished? If you’d like to start your own personal database, here are some tips from the book that might help you get you started:

What should go into a personal database?

• First name
• Last name
• Title
• Company
• Email
• Phone number (preferably cell phone)
• URL
• State/Province where you reside
• Notes

Written by Sarah Thomas, Managing Director, Carve Consulting (Australia)

We’re always talking about how consumers are more savvy than they’ve ever been, that they can see right through all the brilliant, creative advertising campaigns, marketing efforts and stratgic PR placements.

So, it was not surprising to see the results of this recent report on marketingmag.com.au that showed 54 per cent of Australians can think of an organisation they don’t trust anymore. And aparently banks and telcos have suffered the greatest dip in consumer trust. Paul Gardner from Grey who created the report with Sweeney Research says:

Consumers want proof that a company is what it purports to be.

The good news is that the web now allows organisations a way to engage with consumers on a different level and really show them that they are what they purport to be and begin to re-build that trust.

There is no better way to build trust - or perhaps no more risk-prone way - than doing it online. Your online reputation is quickly becoming the most important one you need to be aware of and manage. The growing popularity and transparent nature of social media allows consumers to see right through an organisation.

For those organisations with nothing to hide - this is a good thing. Its those who have been using advertising, marketing and PR to portray an image that does not reflect their core values who will be unmasked when the web gives consumers x-ray vision.

A brilliant book by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, Trust Agents, has some great insights into how to do just that. It is highly recommended reading - I’ll post some highlights from it soon.

Written by Sarah Thomas, Managing Director of Carve Consulting (Australia).