Comments for Socialcast: CEO's Status Should Be Louder Than Yours

Socialcast: CEO's Status Should Be Louder Than Yours

2009-07-29T20:40:00Z

Socialcast, the enterprise microblogging platform, thinks that HR and C-level executives deserve extra recognition in the corporate status stream. Its new Broadcast Message feature gives announcements by higher-ups priority if they want it, effectively creating the Reply All of the micro-messaging world.

For a startup whose entire value proposition is software that transforms work, the idea of enabling preexisting corporate hierarchies is an ill-considered move. Corporate hierarchy is what makes the enterprise tick, no doubt about it. But in communication, what's needed is reducing noise, not the means to create more of it.

]]> For our bet, the best part of enterprise microblogging is that every employee decides what messages they receive. The ability to filter and follow selectively within the company is the feature that makes it more attractive than email.

By allowing your boss or HR to bypass your filter and broadcast a message to you in Socialcast, the platform kills what there is to love about a Twitter for the enterprise. Though Socialcast's powerful content sharing and aggregation abilities go far beyond what Yammer and other competitors in this space offer, this is a step backwards for how 2.0 your enterprise can get with their software. If CEOs want to grab your attention for company-wide announcements, that's what reply all is for.

Who knows, we could be wrong. Broadcasting messages could drive enterprise decision makers — the ones who sign the checks for IT solutions — wild with ecstasy. But for everyone else, any functionality that gives someone else more power to waste your time is a major buzzkill.

Comment from şişme bebek on 2010-08-27

2010-08-27T07:30:58Z

Hmm i don't see this as a setback in any way? I love the new individuality that's being given all around with various new web 2.0 properties and that's what makes them so popular. Companies that embrace whats most popular around the globe tend to do better in any buisness

Comment from sex shop on 2010-04-28

2010-04-28T10:22:31Z

You Said: "In my eyes, a big part of what enterprise 2.0 is all about is giving me the ability to decide what information I need in order to do my job, which reduces distractions and improves productivity

Comment from nusret on 2009-12-28

2009-12-28T21:23:34Z

Thank you for your sharing.!

Comment from Christopher on 2009-07-29

2009-07-30T06:12:39Z

Ok, let's all step back from the brink... Tools that empower individuals are VERY important and I love the ability for the individual to choose what he or she follows. The individual tends to know what he or she needs to do their job, etc.

BUT

If an individuals CEO or your manager, etc. want to broadcast a message to you does it not make sense? They do pay your salary & assign your work don't they? Maybe in a utopian society, we could choose our own tasks & be completely independent and all be equal but we are not there, we have bosses and they need to communicate with us in a frictionless manner whether we want them to or not.

It's the real world.

Comment from Steve Ardire on 2009-07-29

2009-07-30T02:46:06Z

We already have E911 for Broadcast messages ;)

Comment from AxisPortals on 2009-07-29

2009-07-30T02:36:05Z

How we theorize things and how actual use unfolds won't always match, and that seems fine to me. C-Suite sorts certainly won't be the first to see the micromessage as broadcast opportunity, and some of the applications of that-- such as moving high stakes info into the stream quickly and in high priority mode--seem smart. Overuse or abuse would be self defeating and probably ultimately self-correcting. It will be interesting to see some case studies of how the feature is ultimately used.

Comment from Tim Young on 2009-07-29

2009-07-30T02:07:44Z

Hi Steven,

While we appreciate your perspective, we'd like to offer some insight into this new feature.

From Socialcast's perspective, the Broadcast Message feature was designed to open up a line of communication between executives and employees that, in the Enterprise, doesn't generally exist. Messages from leadership are an opportunity for transparency and collaboration between the "front lines" and executives. It's not about being forced to see every status update that the CEO shares, as the title of this blog post seems to imply. Most employees who have worked in an Enterprise will attest to the value of knowing what executives find important, whether it comes via email or in the company's Socialcast network. Our blog post today describes how this has been used successfully:

http://blog.socialcast.com/creating-a-call-to-action-with-the-socialcast-broadcast-message-feature/

We are always open to feedback, and we appreciate hearing yours today.

Comment from Daniel Schillinger on 2009-07-29

2009-07-30T00:46:40Z

Comment from Gil Yehuda on 2009-07-29

2009-07-29T23:47:42Z

Steven,
You say "a big part of what enterprise 2.0 is all about is giving me the ability to decide what information I need in order to do my job" Do you think that the executives who pay for technology solutions agree with that goal? For those who do, they will ignore this new feature and allow every employee to decide how to receive communications on their own with total autonomy and trust. But my understanding is that E2.0 does not mean death to management edicts. At worst, I this new feature as an optional concession, but certainly not a setback. But I agree in principle that the message this feature could send (if misused) is not as tasty as the freedom that E2.0 usually brings.

Comment from stevenwalling.com on 2009-07-29

2009-07-29T23:17:20Z

Gil,

No need to be sorry, I appreciate the commentary!

As for your points: Nowhere in the post do I say that all messages are (or even should be) equal. I'm saying the beauty of both Twitter and enterprise microblogging is that we choose what's relevant, not someone else. In my eyes, a big part of what enterprise 2.0 is all about is giving me the ability to decide what information I need in order to do my job, which reduces distractions and improves productivity. Socialcast's new feature doesn't do that: it does the exact opposite.

You're right to point out that this came out of a request from actual enterprises. But note that the anecdotes they give are from management who get to broadcast these messages, not the employees who have to take the time to read them. I think that's telling.

Comment from Voile on 2009-07-29

2009-07-29T21:49:20Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv0Zc7MPXZ8

Comment from Steve Ardire on 2009-07-29

2009-07-29T21:16:24Z

> For a startup whose entire value proposition is software that transforms work, the idea of enabling preexisting corporate hierarchies is an ill-considered move......

Steven I completely agree with you that this lame. Moreover its counter to "emergence" dictated by social construction of just-in-time knowledge from ongoing flows of dynamic information between people and social capital in the network.

I think we'll see ‘connection visibility’ becoming more important in 'smarter enterprises that use social network analysis to show the intersection of influence networks and knowledge flow pathways to better illustrate how real work gets done using informal networks (collaborative, P2P, non-hierarchical).

NOTE: This will complement not replace the hierarchy.

The objective is to better manage human connectivity as a critical resource that allows informal networks to help channel the real flow of information and influence for increased organizational agility in support of strategic initiatives and value creation.

Comment from Gil Yehuda on 2009-07-29

2009-07-29T21:01:16Z

Sorry Steve, I can't say I agree with you on this one. I don't think it's the most interesting feature they have, but it does seem to me that they are responding to feedback from real enterprises: Not all messages are equal; some are more important than others, and there needs to be some way to alert people of something important. Now, I think they could have implemented this in a less binary way -- and I hope that more customer feedback gives them some ideas of how to leverage tags and filters so that we can manage an overwhelming stream of messages and still get the really vital ones.

I think the two biggest "aha's" in today's feature are:

1. microsharing is becoming so real that the executives are seeing email as a less effective channel. This feature request is very telling of the real success that must be going on in the client sites. This is not a step backwards or buzzkill.

2. Socialcast is differentiaing themselves from being just a "Twitter-clone that you can use for your workplace" -- they are incorporating an understanding that in the enterprise we are not all equal. Whereas in Web 2.0 world we earn reputation and fame, but are otherwise all start on equal footing, in an E2.0 world hierarchy is still very relevant. We might not like this -- but this is a business reality. A microsharing solution that accommodates this reality is not a step backwards. Though I do agree, it is a buzzkill.

Comment from Aaron on 2009-07-29

2009-07-29T20:54:14Z

"Broadcasting messages could drive enterprise decision makers — the ones who sign the checks for IT solutions — wild with ecstasy. But for everyone else, any functionality that gives someone else more power to waste your time is a major buzzkill."

Just playing devil's advocate here, but aren't more senior members of a corporate hierarchy the ones who get to decide how "wasting one's time" is defined in a company?

It seems to me that employees in a hierarchical organizational structure are not expected to determine for themselves what is and what not "worthwhile." That's what a hierarchy is for.

I'm just saying...:-)