Comments on: Getting help, growing networks: Twitter

By: Robert Harper

Robert Harper — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:52:37 +0000

I’m a recent and speedy convert to the twitter community and watched in amazement at the response James received.

Fascinating article and certainly something that needs to be looked into further.

By: Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:25:49 +0000

@jon – get a gravatar please.

I’ve seen a report on the friend/follower thing that I have uploaded to DropBox: (https://dl-web.getdropbox.com/get/Twitter/twitter.pdf?w=cebeeea3). It comes out of HP Labs. It’s a decent explanation of the concepts but I think it misses a few tricks. So for example it doesn’t address the issue of loose ties being formed and reformed, nor does it address the issue of ambient intimacy that is critical in these scenarios.

By: Jon Reed

Jon Reed — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:30:49 +0000

Dennis, you make a good point here about the caliber of followers. I’m not sure it’s true in all industries, but certainly in the SAP world some pretty interesting people are on Twitter. I’m pretty thrilled by some of the people who DO follow me. It’s not so much a numbers game as knowing that people you really respect, who operate somewhere in your industry domain, are interested in what you have to say and vice versa.

So, beyond “Twittersourcing” which does seem to imply a certain volume to get a comprehensive result, even a modest number of followers can be a huge asset, as you say, in a focused area. I’m really looking forward to seeing these folks in person at the next trade show because as opposed to pre-Twitter, we’ve really built up the relationship virtually in between the in-person events. That should make the in-person conversations much more powerful as so much context has arleady been established – all through a certain kind of intimacy that can only be achieved through this kind of daily exchange.

I guess Dennis I do owe you a cold one, the first time I really gave Twitter more than a dismissive thought was during a webcast replay where I heard you talk about your own skepticism about Twitter and how it had been turned around. Perhaps your latest entry will inspire others to give it a second look.

- Jon -

By: Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:07:13 +0000

@richard – you’ve been running way too comfortable for a while (lol) – BTW: check out my post re: IFRS, I am starting to hook up with blogger/Twitter CPAs in the US via Twitter. It’s interesting stuff.

By: Richard Murphy

Richard Murphy — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:04:24 +0000

I feel myself being dragged into a space I really don’t intend to visit…..

But you’ve done that to me before Dennis

Richard

By: Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:54:34 +0000

@phil – I think I’ll skip the ‘kiss my ass’ bit but you are broadly correct. I spend a lot of time experimenting with tools and what I’m describing are 2 relatively simple use cases that deliver measurable and demonstrable value. I don’t believe I will have any difficulty in persuading finance types of the outweighed merit of these, let alone others that I find along the way.

With ESME, we have built 2 specific use cases and are working on others. That’s really the only way to help managements understand the value proposition. But I would locate that in the idea that work can be fun. In that I see huge rewards. Check Euan Semple when he talks about making people’s lives better. He advises some really large organizations.

If you can come up with a use case then we can certainly talk about how that gets articulated. As you might imagine, we have a lot to think about going forward, especially as we’re trying to ensure ESME is located in the notion of business process.