MI021/CS021:Computers in Management

April 24, 2009

Peer Production, Social Media, and Web 2.0

Prof. John Gallaugherwww.gallaugher.com

written case & podcasts available at www.gallaugher.com/chapters

Copyright ©1997-2008 John M. Gallaugher, Ph.D. All rights reservedNote: not all images cleared for commercial copyright.

Special thanks to my colleagues Rob Fichman & Jerry Kane for input & contributions

Issues Covered

• Terms explained– Peer production, social media, Web 2.0

• Tools & Technologies of Web 2.0– Blogs, Wikis, Social Networks– RSS, Folksonomies, Mashups, Virtual Worlds,

Rich Media, Twitter/microblogging– Prediction markets– Crowdsourcing revisited

What is Web 2.0?

Social Media & Peer Production

Key Tools of Web 2.0• Blogs - An online journal that keeps a

running chronology of entries. 

• Wikis - A website that anyone can edit directly from within the browser

• Social Networks - Online community that allows users to establish a personal profile and communicate with others

• Other Tools (RSS, Folksonomies, Mashups, Virtual Worlds, Rich Media, Twitter/microblogging)

Blogs

• Key features– Easy to post, persistent, searchable,

multimedia support, fosters user interaction (comments)

• Key uses  – Quickly share / disseminate / vet idea– Obtain feedback, Mobilize a

community

• Corporate Users– Traditional Media (e.g. NYT, WSJ),

GM, NetApp, Sun

Trusting Citizen Journalism?

“Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack. I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath. My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable. I haven't seen anything about this anywhere else yet, and as of right now, I have no further information, so I thought this would be a good place to start. If anyone else has more information, please share it.”

iReport, Oct. 3, 2008

Wikis

• Key features– “Anyone” can edit, version

history/comparison/roll back, auto notification of changes (RSS)

• Key uses – Collaboration on common tasks or

to create a common knowledge base.

• Corporate users– Dresdner, Sony, Pixar,

– Intuit, AmEx Executive Travel

Electronic Social Networks

• Features & Uses– Discovery & Organizing: Profile pages,

affiliations

– Information Sharing: messaging, discussions, feeds, rich media

• Corporate Users– IBM, Deloitte Consulting,

Goldman-Sachs, Reuters.

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Other Tools• RSS

– Automatic notifications of content updates.

• Folksonomies– User-created “Tagging” classification systems.

• Mashup– A combination of two or more technologies or

data feeds into a single, integrated tool.  

• Virtual Worlds– An online environment in which users appear in

a computer-generated environment in the form of an avatar or animated character.

• Rich Media– distribution of (and interaction with) audio,

video, or picture files via online mechanisms.

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• microblogging - 140 characters• Relationships are not reciprocal

– followers without friends– hash tags to #amazonfail

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Rumor Response

Crowdsourcing & Prediction Markets

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• Crowdsourcing– the act of taking a job traditionally

performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined generally large group of people in the form of an open call.

• Prediction Markets– where a diverse crowd is polled and

opinions aggregated to form a forecast of an eventual outcome.

– Success Factors:

• Be Diverse

• Be Decentralized

• Be Independent

• Summarize