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Ed Brill
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Industry: Computer Services & IT Services
Role: infoBOOM Subject Expert
Initiative: Collaboration & Social NetworkingProduct Management, IBM Lotus software
IBM
More about me:
Ed Brill is Director, Product Management, IBM Lotus software. In this position, Brill and his team are responsible for the product and market strategy for Lotus Notes and Domino, market-leading collaborative software. Brill participates in several online communities and blogs at www.edbrill.com. He can also be found on Twitter @edbrill, and on LinkedIn and Facebook.
My links:
- Blog: http://www.edbrill.com
- LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/edbrill
Member since:January 11 2010
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Kevin, yes, IBM has what I consider to be best-in-class "social media guidelines". They can be found here.
http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html
Going beyond the words, though, we have instilled a culture where these words really mean something. Twice in my blogging career, external parties have contacted the IBM chairman's office about something I wrote. In both cases, IBM "backed me up" because they knew it was factual information that was expressed in the context of the guidelines.
I think cultural and also technical components are required to make participation successful.
There can be risks to participating -- over-sharing of information, lack of filters, premature disclosure. But to sit by idly and let the conversation take place has opportunity costs around relationships but also transactions. People want to deal with people. Knowing that they have a connection with people is a major aspect of successful social networking -- not just amassing Facebook friends or LinkedIn networkers. A true dialog, in authentic voice, will lead to more trust and openness, which will lead to better business.