Protecting the Social Commons

I was invited to be a team leader in a new marketing effort based on "traffic generation". It was a well prepared and well documented offer. Maybe it was an opportunity to make quite a lot of money. I said no. We've seen this all before. Most of these people have little or no impact. But the tools are changing as our ability to communicate across the social networking commons improves.

Remember the time when robots harvested email addresses from web sites and we all got hundreds of emails about things that had no connection to us. SPAM.Today we protect ourselves with spam-filters, but the attack, changed forever how email is used.

The problem with spam, was that it destroyed the value of a perfectly good and very cheap tool. Email space was a common, and pirates tried to steal it from us. Largely they SUCCEEDED. In terms of personal communication of an important kind, I no longer use email. Email for me is reserved for easy group communication.

Some of the new personal communication is on Facebook, a little on Ryze. Only business matters on LinkedIn and Twitter. Skype has become a key tool. In each of these new social networking spaces there is a communication common, free of unwanted noise.There are tools in each social network that so far have kept that space relatively free of "noise".

People are planning to invade our communication common with marketing messages.One guy's set up 100's of interconnected blogs, and thousands of bogus twitter accounts. I think I discovered someone creating hundreds of bogus Ryze accounts too. The plan is to invade your privacy, and to profit from social media.

There are lots of people, in the social media common, who would like to,and expect to, profit from being a member of the Social Media space, on Facebook, Xing, LinkedIn, Ryze and elsewhere. That's fine. There are social ways to achieve that, and there are destructive anti-social ways to do it.

Our commons is protected in two ways. The administrative rules of Ryze, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are part of the defense. But users themselves need also to understand first that the common exists, and second that it needs to be defended.

There is a long inglorious history about "the Commons". The rules are never strong enough, and social action is too weak and too late. Eventually the commons is invaded and destroyed. This battle is being fought today. Our task?To remain alert, and to do your best to protect what you have.

John Stephen Veitch
The Network Ambassador
Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati Tags marketingsocial networkingFacebookSkypeTwitterRyzethe CommonsLinkedIncommunication commonnetworking spacesanti-socialSocial Mediamarketing messagesJohn Stephen Veitch

Using a News Reader

I've been a heavy user of the Internet for 18 years. I kept a hand written journal for 24 years before that. When blogging first became possible I was a reader, although not a writer in the beginning. If we wanted to follow a blog we subscribed to an email notification, which is one reason why I get so much mail.

In July, 2009, here in Christchurch NZ, I collected data about how people really use the Internet. I asked people to give me NUMBERS, no opinions, about their Internet use. One surprising number was that of 90 people who responded, only ONE wrote a blog, and he had not updated for some time. Even more surprising was that only THREE people read blogs. Those numbers seem incredibly at odds with what most surveys tell us. The reason for that is in the methodology. Both sets of data are correct. e.g. "80% of Internet users read blogs." The question was "In the last 12 months have you ever read a blog?". My data says "3% of Internet users read blogs" and my question was "How many blogs did you read in the last 7 days". 97% of my respondents replied NONE.

Another startling statistic. Not a single person in my sample uses an RSS Reader. Now at the time I didn't use a reader either. I had FeedDemon on my computer, but I never opened it. Installed but never used in 2+ years. For me the old email system worked OK, and I'd never bothered to change. But now I'm interested, why don't people use RSS Readers, or News Readers? Essentially because they don't know about them.

RSS stands for really simple syndication, which explains exactly nothing. It's a formatted text feed, with integrated pictures and video, so in a reader it presents like an electronic newspaper. Depending on the source, you get a heading and the first 250 words or so, or you get the full feed. Clicking on the heading opens the original source in your browser. News readers have lots of tricks for searching for information and saving the very best, and for discarding the rest.

Every Internet user should as part of his or her daily routine open a News Reader. That news reader should be subscribed to RSS Feeds from people or information sources that interest you. You should be getting the FEED, and not the EMAIL. It saves a lot of TIME. Also because it's so much easier to do, you'll actually end up reading much more, and being better informed.

What Feed Reader should you use?

My knowledge here is suspect. I've only ever used FeedDemon to any extent. I've had a play with Google Reader, and that seems OK too. Here is what a few hours work tells me. First of all there is a fundamental choice; do you use Google or not?

Google Reader and variations.

Google Reader is widely praised as being easy to use and with lots of tools and shortcuts to suit many needs. I found in my short time using it that I quickly adapted to it's style.

FeedDemon 3.0 is a standalone programme that synchronizes with Google Reader. If you are at home you use FeedDemon because you prefer it's style and functions, but if you are somewhere else, all your feeds are also available on Google Reader.

NetNewsWire 3.2 (Mac Users) This is the Mac version of FeedDemon.

Feedly is a Firefox Browser addon that links to Google Reader.

Other Options:

NewzCrawler 14 day free trial - US$24.95

Amphetadesk is a free, cross platform, open-sourced, syndicated news aggregator - it obediently sits on your desktop, downloads the latest news that interests you, and displays them in a quick and easy to use.

Bloglines (Web Based) Voted Best Blog/Feed Search Engine by the Search Engine Watch Awards in 2005

John Stephen Veitch
The Network Ambassador
Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati Tags News ReaderbloggingRSS Readerelectronic newspaperFeedDemonGoogle ReaderNewzCrawlerNetNewsWireAmphetadeskFeedlyBloglinesJohn Stephen Veitch

Email for Social Networking

One of the things that worries many people is the "overload" they seem to get on the internet. TOO much mail, far too much mail.

There are two key techniques for dealing with that. One is the secondary email account. The other is to use RSS feed instead of getting mail.

Today I'm talking about that secondary email account. You can almost certainly have a free account, if you accept a little advertising. If you choose to pay as little as US$10.00 a year you can probably get add free mail and some other useful services too.

When I look at the options there seem to be FOUR. Which one you'll choose will depend quite a bit on how you feel about Microsoft, and Google, and Yahoo. I've been very happy with my Google service, but yes it does concern me that Google does "everything" and does it "free" but it's also collecting huge amounts of personal data. One day, that might go bad.

Here are the options:

Windows Live ID
Windows Live ID gets you into Hotmail, Messenger, and Xbox LIVE. I'm a Microsoft avoider, so I don't use it. But if you are using Windows Live for Chat, then this is a natural option for you.

Gmail
I've been a Gmail User for about 4 years. I didn't like it in the beginning, but it's ability to search and come up with that old lost letter is remarkable.

Yahoo Mail
I once had a Yahoo Mail account. Perfectly functional. Today they are offering email with "apps". Some of you might like this option.

Fastmail
FastMail is a fourth option. In this case there's a very limited free version, and for quite a small number you can get upgraded services. If you are really concerned about the big companies controlling all the data, this is your choice.

How to use your new account.

When you join social networks use the secondary email address.

Almost all the mail coming to you in Social Networks is non-personal, it was written for a group of people to read. So if you do, or do not, read it, isn't mission critical.

Create folders or labels (Google) to separate the mail into groups. You use filters, to separate the mail as it comes in. I'll tell you how to do that if you need help.

Go through your mail in your personal email account. How much of this is non-personal? For most people the great bulk of their mail never need to be read. So open letters like that, find the subscribe and unsubscribe links. Remove your personal email address and re-subscribe with your secondary email address. It might take a few weeks to complete this task, but slowly you'll get your mail under control. That will be especially true if you turn some of your mail off, and get an RSS Feed instead. I'll talk about that next time.

John Stephen Veitch
The Network Ambassador
Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati Tags overloademail accountfree mailWindows LiveHotmail,GmailFastmailYahoo MailSocial Networkspersonal emailunsubscribesubscribeRSS FeedJohn Stephen Veitch

Protecting Your Computer from Attack

OK, so we're starting from scratch here.  You've got a new machine connected to the Internet and the machine vendor already has installed an anti-virus programme.  Of course that's a subtle attempt to sell you on an upgrade.  You might have anywhere between a month and a year to decide what to do.  

If you are a low volume user, and the things on your computer don't include important business files.  It's quite likely you can install a free anti-virus programme.  The recommended programme tends to change over time, but at this moment for home use, AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.5.406, is being recommended.  AVG do sell an upgrade version at a very similar price to other vendors, about US$40.00 a year.  "AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool.  AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product."

Perhaps the most common Anti-Virus software I've seen is Symantic Software's Norton. The current version is Norton AntiVirus 2009, available for a 15 day free trial and then US$40.00 a year.  There is also Norton Internet Security at the slightly dearer price of US$60.00 per year.

If you feel you need a strong upgraded product, Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, from Kaspersky Labs, is recommended.  This has a price tag of US$50.00.  There is a slimmed down Antivirus version for US40.00.  

For many years I've been a user of Trend Micro's Antivirus software.  Currently I'm running Trend Micro Internet Security 2010, which is for sale at US$50.00 a year but I brought a two year deal for US$80.00.  The version I use has Antivirus protection, and web site protection and safeguards against exposing certain sensitive data online.  There is a cheaper Antivirus only version for US$40.00 per year.  My version upgrades itself about three times a day. I've never had a problem since installing Trend Micro.

Trend Micro also have a product called "Housecall" that will check your computer for viruses and malware online.  I've used it several times to sort out a problem for a friend.  

Make your choice.  It's your responsibility to make sure that your computer in not infected by a spam-bot or some other form of malware.  Of course the possible loss of sensitive data about you or your passwords or your banking ID, should also concern you.  Any of these programme's should give you a trouble free experience.  I'm a heavy user and I've no hesitation in paying for the service I enjoy.  Simply choose the programme you want, click on the download button, and save it to your hard-drive.  It's best to have a folder called "downloads" for this purpose.  

Once the programme is downloaded click on it and it should install itself.  You'll need to allow the programme to check all your existing files, a process that can go on in the background, but may take several hours.  You won't need to pay for the programme until the trial period expires.  

John Stephen Veitch
The Network Ambassador
Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati Tags anti-virus programmeAVG Anti-Virushome usersSymanticNortonKaspersky Internet SecurityTrend Micro Internet SecurityHousecallmalwarepasswordsdownload trial periodJohn Stephen Veitch

A New Direction for Step by Step

I'm concerned about the growing digital divide occurring on the Internet.  This blog originally had very limited aims, essentially to teach people how to use the Ryze social network.  My blog was a brave effort but the objective failed.  

I've not written here for over a year, because I couldn't imagine who the audience was.  However in June 2009, I did some research in Christchurch which allowed me to meet over 100 real live Internet users.  I now know who I'm talking to.  Let me introduce them to you.

Bryndwr - Internet Use Project

Researcher John Stephen Veitch - June, 2009

78% of households in this survey are Internet connected.  Of those, 81% were on broad-band.  This is a distinctly middle class area, of well educated people who you would expect to be substantial users of the Internet.

Age and Gender of 100 People

The 100 chosen participants in age order. (There were 10 who finally "refused" to supply data.)

Colour Key:				Male			Female
This table tells you about the age and gender of the most active Internet user in each house. In age order.
Percentiles 1 to 5
86	84	84	73	73	69	68	68	67	67
67	66	65	64	64	64	63	63	62	62
61	61	60	59	57	57	57	56	56	56
55	54	54	53	51	50	50	50	50	49
48	47	45	40	40	39	38	38	38	38
Median 38
Percentiles 6 to 10
36	36	36	35	35	35	35	32	32	32
32	32	32	31	31	30	30	30	29	29
29	28	28	27	25	25	24	23	23	20
19	19	18	18	16	16	16	15	15	15
REF	REF	REF	REF	REF	REF	REF	REF	REF	REF

The median person was 24 when the Internet became widely available. In our sample there is a cluster of heavy users (7 people) aged between 50 and 40. (As a side issue the researcher, myself, is also a heavy user, and at 67, seems to be outside this framework.) There were 4 more heavy users 36, 35, 32 and 31 with no heavy users at a younger age. That information might destroy some commonly held assumptions about young people being more skilled with these technologies than older people.  

In the next few months I want to make available two short posts a week which I hope these people who I now "know" will be able to use.

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John Stephen Veitch Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati TagsconnectedBryndwrInternet usersyoung peopleRyzeresearchhouseholdsbroadbandbroad-bandJohn Stephen Veitch

Volunteer to be Successful

The openness of your own future, depends on YOU. Your ability to VOLUNTEER to do new things and to take on new ideas is the key to your future. So have you volunteered to be part of an online social network? Having done so, what did you do then?

Sadly, 90% of those who join a social network, are unsure why they did so, and are reluctant to participate. The opportunity to connect to other people is there, but the connections are not made. For instance, of the 20 million members of LinkedIn about 10 million have fewer than FIVE connections and most have not completed their profiles.

Be a Taker from the Useful Common:
You come to online social networks, with a real world network already in place. The online world, list serv's, web sites, search engines, groups and social networks enlarge and extend the "useful common". There is far more content and value in the useful common than you can possibly absorb. So, drink all you choose, but drink with discipline; you can drown in content. Try to find what you need "just in time" a little bit every day. Take the opportunity to build the strength and value of the useful common you have access to. At first you will be a taker. Later when your confidence grows you'll become a giver.

Join a Social Network – Write About Yourself:
In the beginning, writing an interesting page about yourself is a difficult but necessary task. It's impossible to write a perfect page about “yourself” because you can never capture the fullness of your life. Be content with what you can write today. (I actually recommend joining TWO networks, LinkedIn, and one other of your choice, any place where they have interesting forums. You need to read and eventually to write, to get the best our of this process.)

Build the Number of Contacts you have:
I'm one of those who was online early, and I've built a large network, but along the way I've also met and been influenced by some amazing people. You need to grow you own network. Begin by reading the discussion forums. Find out who's here. Visit the profile pages of the people who have useful things to say, find out more about them. Tell them by dropping a note, or filling in a guest book, that you liked what they wrote. Quietly, build the list of people you know. Once you have 30 or 40 connections, your network will begin to grow with less effort. Thus far, building your network is bringing together people of like mind, who didn't previously know each other.

I've built a large network, on several different platforms, but I don't recommend that to everyone. You'll know, if for some reason you need a large network, for the rest of you, somewhere between 100 and 500 connections should be very useful. More important than building more connections is to engage a small number of your online contacts in regular discussions. I've been experimenting with that. It's not easy. The conversation keeps running dry, and you have to re-boot it again. It takes two people to keep a conversation going. You know the sound of one hand clapping. If it's too hard to sustain, that relationship dies. If you can find in 100 connections four new people that you enjoy talking to across the world, if you can talk to people who don't exist in the same cultural bubble as yourself, you will discover value.

You need to be proactive to succeed online. That means you need to volunteer, to put yourself forward. If today you don't have the courage to do that, join a group, and spend time in the forums. Drink deep on what other people are saying. Learn. One day you'll feel the courage to participate yourself. Step by step, that's how we get there.

John Stephen Veitch

Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati Tags social networkyour futurevolunteerLinkedInUseful Commondrown in contentjust in timeabout yourselfproactivelarge networkregular discussionsparticipate yourselfStep by stepJohn Stephen Veitch

Are we Ready Yet? - Some of Us Perhaps.

The Cluetrain Manifesto makes the claim that, “we are getting smarter, more informed and more organised.” Of course Howard Rheingold probably originated the idea of "smart mobs".

There are aspects of the Internet that certainly prove that point. One clear example is the success of Wikipedia, and another is the use of spare capacity on people’s machines and off the network to transfer files, particularly music and video files. (A downside is the success of the Internet as a means of distributing pornography.) Also remarkable is the growth of online dating, and the high satisfaction expressed by most of the people who have tried to do that. Online dating is interesting because you have to “put yourself on the line” and people are very reluctant to do that. So of course there are a few “fake ID’s” but that entirely defeats the purpose. Those people are quickly exposed online. The general experience is that people are excessively genuine and helpful and even honest about themselves.

People who don’t know, often laugh at the idea of Wikipedia. How can a site which anyone can edit be credible? I can only say try it. Not only will you find pages for thousands of topics that would never rate a mention in any printed encyclopedia, but even on the most obscure topics there’s usually been some basic quality check. For instance a page that’s poorly developed is likely to be tagged with a statement saying that the page doesn’t meet the basic standards of Wikipedia and inviting people to verify the statements and to provide references. The English language version if printed like an encyclopedia would currently run to 787 volumes. Prof. Clay Shirky, estimates that Wikipedia represents the accumulation of over 100 million hours of human thought and effort. But this is a tiny amount of time really, given that TV viewers in the USA spend that much time every week, just watching advertising. Of all the users of Wikipedia, only some small number, ever edit a page.

Another way we get smarter is by joining groups of people who share our interests. When I first began to work on the Internet this was mostly achieved by joining a “listserv” and the best listserv’s were run by universities. Later there were sites like Yahoo Groups and several commercial competitors. It’s very hard work to build and sustain an active list. Hence lists come and go, but the best of them are very active and enormously valuable to their members.

In the last eight years web based social networks have become common. Each social network requires you join a “special group” and you have to go to a special place to get group mail, or to read about group activities. Because we all have limited time we can only be active in one or two places like this. So the idea that the Internet makes it possible to “connect to everyone” is a nonsense. However, there is a demand for each person to have a single identity and login that’s common to different networks. One day that will happen. Inside a network like this, it’s possible to “meet” the same person over and over in different discussions. So you “get to know” who these people are even if you live on the other side of the globe. In the process you get to understand more about how people are different, and how they are the same. You will also find that if you participate in the discussion that you develop an identity, that you “become someone” and the way other people respond to that, teaches you a lot about your own strengths and weaknesses.

However, the Cluetrain Manifesto was wrong if the word “we” was intended to include all Internet users. I’ve been disappointed for at least 10 years now at the low level of understanding and participation by most people who are “online”. Those who are “getting smarter” are in my view only about 10% of those who are online. The rest lack the confidence to join groups and to get involved. If you don’t join groups, and give your participation some time to develop, you can’t begin to benefit as a member. Prof. Clay Shirky has called his new book, “Here Comes Everybody” and like the writers of the Cluetrain Manifesto he’s making the claim of online benefits for “everybody”. That’s a claim that will prove false. There is a new digital divide, even in households where there is good Internet access, between those who participate and those who don’t.

Those who are engaged on the Internet are involved in a multi-person conversation that requires the development of new skills in navigation, in keyboarding, in understanding cultural and religious differences, in expressing one’s views clearly, in learning about the things other people are interested in. If this is your life, your learning rate is accelerated. If this is not what you do with your time, the chances are that you watch TV, each night becoming more and more switched off, more and more indoctrinated, less and less informed.

John Stephen Veitch

Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati Tags Cluetrain ManifestoHoward Rheingoldsmart mobsWikipediaonline datingClay Shirkystrengths and weaknessesjoining groupssocial networksconnect to everyoneparticipate in discussionHere Comes Everybodydevelop an identityJohn Stephen Veitch

Cluetrain Manifesto at 10 Years

This blog is for people who are finding their way into social networking and personal learning online. Much of the Cluetrain Manifesto addresses the same issues. They say that networked users of the Internet support each other and know more than the "experts" on almost every topic. They say clearly, "we are getting smarter, more informed and more organised". In 10 years that reality has been demonstrated over and over, but sadly 80% of all the Internet users who should be an active part of this communication revolution are reluctant to be engaged.

Rick Levine,  Christopher Locke,  Doc Searls and  David Weinberger published the Cluetrain Manifesto ten years ago. When I first found that text some six months later, I was amazed and deeply inspired. The text seemed to speak to me.

Since that time I've always had a page in my site that promotes the Cluetrain Manifesto, a page like this one, An Introduction to the Cluetrain Manifesto. I've invited hundreds of people to consider the value of the text, but it frightens people, and they back away. That's sad, because the writers of the Cluetrain Manifesto had the message mostly right, and the last 10 years have vindicated their optimism about the power of all of us together.

My own research tells me that while 80% of people in the developed world have access to the Internet, only a tiny number of people use the Internet in a way that makes an important difference to their lives. That's a problem, a new digital divide between confident Internet users and poorly informed users. Read previous posts in this blog to learn more about that. (See networking principles,  Internet literacy and joining  social networks)

With the benefit of hindsight, I've discovered in the rather repetitive 95 Theses, three general themes that concern people who are new to the Internet. They are:

Networking and Network Groups. The Internet allows people to speak to each other in ways that were never before possible. But to have access to these other people we need to JOIN online networks or social groups. Back in the previous posts on this blog there is lots of help on the process of joining groups and social networks. NOTHING is more important to enhance your ability to do things online. When you are a member you can ask questions and get answers that make sense to you that are not contaminated by propaganda. Together we know a great deal about almost everything. The power of the Internet to make group forming easy is one of the keys to it's success. Your ability to find the right groups to join, is one of the keys to your own success. To find out more about that you need to join some groups; become a member.

The Power of a Human Voice. In real conversations people speak with a human voice and in language we can all understand. When you join social networks or become engaged with list mail, you'll discover that people have learned to talk quite naturally to each other. Such conversations encourage trust and honesty and an open sharing of our time and our knowledge. By the sound of the human voice we recognise other "members" of our community. There may also be outbursts of angry language, tirades we used to call "flaming". Thankfully today such behaviour is very rare. It's amazing to me how disciplined people are, even when the level of disagreement is very sharp. The human voice is normally very respectful of other people.

The Value of Conversation. Conversations cannot be forced to continue. The glue that holds a conversation together is a genuine sharing of points of view about a topic of mutual interest. Conversations are remarkable because nobody can control the direction of the dialogue. Whoever speaks next can take the discussion to some different domain. The other participants ca then choose to follow that lead, or to return to the previous topic. Conversations occur between peers, none of whom have the power to control what comes next.

There is a revolution going on. A quiet insistent progressive shift in the quality of what we all know. Too often this knowledge starkly contradicts what leading government officials and professional advisers tell us. So who do we believe? Our online experience tells us that our friends may not have PhD's or high office, but they do tell us the truth as best they know it. The track record of people in social networks getting the message right isn't perfect, but it is still by far the most reliable guide.

John Stephen Veitch

Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati Tags Christopher LockeRick LevineDoc SearlsDavid WeinbergerCluetrain Manifesto digital divideInternet literacy social networksnetworking principles conversation human voice propaganda John Stephen Veitch

Be the Master of Your Online Activity

New Zealand is a "small place" with only 4.5 million people. We are used to knowing each other fairly well on a face to face basis. Rebels are rare here, and they stand out from the crowd very easily. We have a way of bringing into line people who stand out too much, or who try to rise too tall; it's called tall poppy syndrome. It was New Zealand that prosecuted "The Last Western Heretic".

I've been confused for the last five years by the FACT that among the general public, the Internet has hardly caused a ripple. "I love the Internet" they say; because that's the expected response, but then they say, "But I seldom use it." I know that this is not the accepted view but I've actually sat with people and watched them use the Internet. I've asked them to demonstrate what they usually do. The fact is, "not much".

15 years ago New Zealand users of the Internet, and many NZ developers of software and web sites were doing leading edge stuff. Along with Norway and Sweden, New Zealand was proving that countries "on the edge" were enthusiastic about the Internet and how it would change their economic and social opportunities. Following closely behind Canada the NZ government promised us the NZ Digital Strategy to make the age of digital information a key driver of the NZ economy. There have been results that I applaud, but just a few. Government web sites are easy to use, and sometimes informative. The software industry in NZ continues to develop, but it's operating in a little bubble of it's own, disconnected. That's dangerous in a global world.

My interviews with NZ Internet users show me that usually they DON'T JOIN email lists and social networks. When they do join, they are seldom, real that as almost NEVER, active participants. There are THREE active email forums (non-technical) for the public in New Zealand. There have been many others but the all fold for lack of interest. The most successful by far is Canterbury Issues, a relatively new forum using Online Groups.

It can be argued, and I would agree that lack of participation is a world wide issue. The "long tail" of non-participating members of every online social network is well understood. But the situation in NZ is more severe I'm sure. Non-participation on two networks where I'm an active member is about 85%, and the top 5% generate and get 50% of all the attention in the network. In New Zealand I'm comfortable with saying that non-participation is close to 95%. For instance I'm the most highly connected person in NZ, on LinkedIn. I'm very easy to find and get a message to. Only ONE person in NZ has ever been proactive and asked me to join their network. I live in Christchurch. I've tried to build my Christchurch connections, but frankly, it's hard work.

At Christchurch Airport, I met a young Italian man, a geologist by training, who has been working to collect seabed data off the coast, south of NZ. We were discussing social networks, facebook in particular, when he mentioned that he was a member of LinkedIn. That makes sense for a young professional man. His University Professor recommended that he join. Once again that is good news, University Professors should be leading the way in that practical manner. So the young man and I are now connected on LinkedIn and he now has 18 connections. Sadly his Professor only has 8.

When I look at the 600 LinkedIn members in Christchurch, representation for Lincoln University and the University of Canterbury is sparse. Moreover, they are also notable of not bothering to develop their networks.

The Universities will of course counter that they have their own well developed academic lists and forums, regular conferences and departmental meetings. Researchers in any field often know each other both by their publications and by face to face meetings. I accept that. But the University needs to connect with it's community, and social networks would help to make that connection. When a University is talking about downgrading or closing courses, that community connection is even more relevant. There are 80 staff of the University of Canterbury who are LinkedIn members, only 6 of whom have more than 30 connections, the minimal number in my view to begin to have a successful LinkedIn network.

So there is work to do. If you live in New Zealand, here are some places to get in touch online.

Yahoo: New Zealand: (439 Members)

Canterbury Issues: (Discussion about Christchurch and Canterbury only)

Virtual Handshake NZ: (57 Members)

Kiwi Scrum: A NEW approved group for LinkedIn (58 members)

In the process of searching for links for this Blog entry I discovered this very optimistic video about the Tuhoe Digital Journey facilitated by Paul Reynolds. I'm thrilled to represent it here.

John Stephen Veitch

Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

Technorati Tags New Zealand small place face to face The Last Western Heretic on the edge NZ Digital Strategy Canterbury Issues Online Groups social networks Tuhoe Lincoln University University of Canterbury John Stephen Veitch

The Information Super-Highway Isn't Used

In 1995 New Zealand was like several other small fringe nations, very active on the Internet.  This was driven, in my view, by the isolation we felt, by a need to connect to some imagined centre where better information and expertise might be found.  Connecting to the world was important, at least it was for me.  The Internet was commonly spoken about as the Information Super-Highway, but most of the imagined benefits of that have not been realized.

Both government and business leaders seem focused on the poor quality of NZ broadband. The NZ Digital Strategy has become very narrow compared with the original vision.  I agree that much faster and more reliable broadband would be desirable, but I recognize a different and deeper problem. 

Prof. Lloyd Geering on TVNZ last Saturday spoke about his acceptance of whatever his teachers told him, and of his acceptance of what people in authority said.  Do you remember those days?  I certainly do.  That was me too.  We suffered from an inferiority complex, looking to "Home" or England for people with expertise, we were unwilling to accept the knowledge and expertise of our own people, preferring to buy from overseas people who supposedly had experience that NZ couldn't provide.  Too often New Zealanders could not be recognized as successful at home until they had proven themselves overseas.  We did not understand who we were. 

The social climate in NZ was excessively focused on finding the one source of authority that could be relied upon.  Missing from my early training was the concept of mentors, and the idea of networking.  I had bosses, who could have been mentors, who might have tried to be mentors, but the concept wasn't in my mind.  I developed a journal that I've kept for 35 years, which was my way to find mentors, hundreds of them, most of whom have no knowledge that they helped me.  In New Zealand, probably because of our small population, where everyone knows everyone, there was no great emphasis on networking, nothing like what we can see overseas.  I've recognized these failings in my own life in the last 15 years, with my connection to the Internet, particularly on Ryze, providing the mirror that has allowed me to see myself in a new way.  People on Ryze saw in me, knowledge and expertise that I couldn't clearly see in myself.  That was a gift, that can never be fully repaid. 

When I was first introduced to Ryze by Bala Pillai, it made no sense to me at all.  I didn't join.  Six months later I recognized what a big mistake I had made.  I've been an enthusiastic paying member ever since.  But efforts to encourage other New Zealanders to join Ryze have fallen on deaf ears.  There are perhaps three New Zealanders with successful histories on Ryze. 

My experience on LinkedIn follows that pattern.  When Introduced to LinkedIn I joined immediately, (I try not to repeat my mistakes) but for a long time it was just a directory service.  Ryze was so much better for talking to people.  In comparison the people on LinkedIn seemed shallow and inexperienced.  But networks change, the services any network offers are likely to improve, membership grows and the experience of the members develops.  In the five years I'm talking about Ryze went from 200,000 to 350,000 members, and LinkedIn from nothing to 19 million.

There are 730 NZ members of Ryze.  In contrast there are about 8000 NZ members of LinkedIn, but of those only a tiny number are active.  People understand enough to join, but having joined, they didn't know intuitively how to use it.  That was exactly the situation I found myself in.  It was my connection to Bill Vick on Ryze that forced me to look seriously at LinkedIn. Bill Vick is the author of "LinkedIn For Recruiting" and lives in Dallas.  Des Walsh of Tweed Heads, NSW, Australia also on Ryze invited me to join a LinkedIn discussion list on Yahoo.  Slowly I was educated about some of the ways people were finding LinkedIn a practical and useful business tool.  Today I'm an enthusiastic advocate. 

Of the 8000 NZ Members of LinkedIn only 18 people have more than 500 connections.  550 have in excess of 100 connections.  But the mean number of connections over all NZ members is a number less than FIVE.  For people with only 5 connections, LinkedIn is not going to be an effective tool.  Even with as many as 30 connections LinkedIn is only beginning to be useful.  Restrictions on what LinkedIn will let me see (Limit 500 entries) prevent me from producing better NZ data. 

I can however produce more detail about Christchurch, my home town.  Christchurch members of LinkedIn are now about 500.  The median number of connections is closer the THREE than four.  12 people have more than 100 connections.  If we take 30 connections as the beginning of LinkedIn being useful as a tool, another 39 are able to experience that.  For the 250+ people who have fewer than 4 connections, "the benefits of LinkedIn membership" remains a meaningless statement. 

The problem behind to poor success rate on social networks is not in Ryze, Xing, Facebook or LinkedIn, it's in our own heads and in the community.  There is a lack of social permission in the community to be strongly involved in these networks.  People don't appreciate why anyone would need to do that.  To make any social network an effective tool in your life you need to learn some skills that are not widely distributed in New Zealand.  For instance of the 18 people on LinkedIn with 500+ connections, 8 were born and educated overseas, 3 have considerable work experience overseas, two completed their academic education overseas.  I'm one of the other 5.  My reason for being in this company is the first web site I built, New Zealand Dances, dating from 1995.  To build that site, I relied on networking with dancers all over the world, over 700 of whom contributed to the site.  Long before good search engines and before social networking became popular I was enjoying a cooperative and helpful Internet experience.  The business failure of NZDances was a great loss to the dance industry here.  Few people understand what they lost.  There were over 700 pages in the site at it's best.  There are more than 62 pages on the Way-Back Machine.  (search for www.nzdances.co.nz)

John Stephen Veitch
Open Future Limited - You may comment privately to John S Veitch using this form.

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