Well, fast forward to May 2008! Exactly three years later those same Blogging Policy & Guidelines have now been updated to become a bit more generic, but still with the same outstanding quality as ever before. Yes, that is right. Let me present to you folks IBM’s just recently updated Social Computing Guidelines. As you may have noticed, these newly updated guidelines cover a bit more ground than just blogging. They now include most social computing activities out there, including virtual worlds and sharing of rich media.

As far as I could see, this update we very much needed, since last time they were looked at was about three years ago and time and time again folks were wondering when they would be going through a revision, since three years in the current social computing world is just quite a lot of time without doing much about it. Perhaps it wasn’t even necessary, who knows, but, at least, the update is now done and ready for everyone to take a look and see what’s changed.

I have noticed already how a whole bunch of people have actually been mentioning them already in their corresponding blogs as well, both fellow IBM colleagues and other folks interested in the world of social computing in general. And by now you may be wondering how the update took place this time around, right? Well, as mentioned in most of the different blog posts mentioned above we used a couple of blog entries with some massive discussions taking place, then consolidating the first initial drafts in a wiki space and contributing some more in there, and, finally, going through a final round of comments uploading them into Cattail and asking folks to comment about them for a final round. Then a couple of weeks later my fellow colleague, and good friend, Adam Christensen, unleashed them to the world and we are back in business!

For those folks who may be wondering what they are about, just in case, they may not know much about them, I have taken the liberty of adding the executive summary that clearly puts together the basis for the rest of the guidelines themselves:

"IBM Social Computing Guidelines: Executive Summary

1. Know and follow IBM’s Business Conduct Guidelines.
2. IBMers are personally responsible for the content they publish on blogs, wikis or any other form of user-generated media. Be mindful that what you publish will be public for a long time — protect your privacy.
3. Identify yourself — name and, when relevant, role at IBM — when you discuss IBM or IBM-related matters. And write in the first person. You must make it clear that you are speaking for yourself and not on behalf of IBM.
4. If you publish content to any website outside of IBM and it has something to do with work you do or subjects associated with IBM, use a disclaimer such as this: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."
5. Respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws.
6. Don’t provide IBM’s or another’s confidential or other proprietary information. Ask permission to publish or report on conversations that are meant to be private or internal to IBM.
7. Don’t cite or reference clients, partners or suppliers without their approval. When you do make a reference, where possible link back to the source.
8. Respect your audience. Don’t use ethnic slurs, personal insults, obscenity, or engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in IBM’s workplace. You should also show proper consideration for others’ privacy and for topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory — such as politics and religion.
9. Find out who else is blogging or publishing on the topic, and cite them.
10. Be aware of your association with IBM in online social networks. If you identify yourself as an IBMer, ensure your profile and related content is consistent with how you wish to present yourself with colleagues and clients.
11. Don’t pick fights, be the first to correct your own mistakes, and don’t alter previous posts without indicating that you have done so.
12. Try to add value. Provide worthwhile information and perspective. IBM’s brand is best represented by its people and what you publish may reflect on IBM’s brand."

Yes, I know, I am sure you would agree with me that they are pretty simple guidelines to use, for sure, and I would go and take things one step further pushing things some more saying these Social Computing Guidelines are pretty much about using your common sense. Hard to believe in the world of the blogosphere and perhaps the social computing world as well, right? But that’s all. That’s what it’s all about. Use your common sense to get the most out of them and help you avoid trouble, whether internally or externally. As simple as that! I guess that some times simple is best heh

Oh, and here is something else rather important and relevant as well to the conversation; now you would probably know, too, how thanks to those Social Computing Guidelines there isn’t a chance I would be in any kind of trouble with my management line on what I am trying to do, as plenty of folks have been commenting to me on the side, as I mentioned in a previous blog post. When in doubt, it is always a good thing to know that they are there to help, guide and encourage you to push the limits, because after all you are the one who sets those limits in the first place! Thus how far do you want to go?

PS. Very nice! Now, incidentally, as I am about to post this entry I see that Linda Skrocki, from Sun Microsystems, has been commenting how they have just recently updated their own Sun Guidelines on Public Discourse. Excellent stuff! Another one to add to the list! Let’s keep it up and continue to spread the message!

Tags: IBM, Blogging Policy and Guidelines, Social Computing Guidelines, Policy, Guidelines, Advice, Social Computing, Social Media, Social Software, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Communities, Learning, Innovation, George Faulkner, Andy Piper, Adam Gartenberg, Jon Mell, Adam Christensen, Executive Summary, Common Sense, Business Conduct Guidelines

Just as I was getting back home yesterday from the US, I got a call from my mum telling me that my younger brother finally got everything arranged and in place, after having waited for a couple of months, to go through an operation to help fight some Trigeminal Neuralgia he has been suffering from for the last few months. Those of you who are familiar with such illness would know it is one of the most painful ones known to mankind, so we were happy that finally came through.

And just this morning he went through what was supposed to be a three hour operation, which in the end extended itself for a total number of seven hours!! He is now resting in intensive care for the next few hours and the next 24 hours will be crucial. Doctors (And my entire family) are very confident about the outcome of the operation, but we need to wait…

So I am hoping you would understand how my blogging from here onwards, and till things get better for him, will be very light, if not non-existent. I care passionately about all of this work I am doing in the social computing space, but I am sure you all know where I put all of my money any and every time: my family!

It’s the only one I got, thus that is where all my attention is going right now wishing my younger brother a speedy recovery knowing he is a tough guy and will get through this one in no time!

Hang in there, bro! We all love ya! :-)

(And from here a special thanks! to all of those folks on Twitter who have been sending along their get well soon wishes for him. Know that he really appreciates them, and so do I! I said it once and I will say it again: you are all a special bunch and I am very proud of hanging out with you lot!)

Continuing with that fashion of writing shorter blog posts, and without much further ado, here we have got Dr. David Vaine at it again, spending a bit over 6 minutes, telling us all there is to know about the fascinating world of corporate flogging, errr, I mean, blogging, behind the firewall, with policies, processes and everything. Worth while the 6 minutes, for sure!

Priceless!

Tags: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Social Computing, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Media, Collaboration, Blogging, Communities, Corporate Blogging, Flogging, Corporate Flogging, Remote Collaboration, Patrick Lambe, Green Chameleon, David Vaine, YouTube, Fun

Remember the other blog post I put together as well not long ago on SMT’s IBM Case Study - From Employees to Members: IBM Connects With Social Media? Well, this particular blog I am going to be sharing over here next would go pretty much along the lines of some of the stuff you will see on that very same case study on how IBM is embracing social computing on the external ibm.com sites.

Yes, that is right! Check out Technical and Strategic Insight on the Present and Future of the ibm.com Website to get a glimpse of what I am talking about here. I am sure that the first thing you are going to say is "What a long long name for a blog! Goodness!" and you would be right. It is also a bit too long for my taste, but if you go beyond that and if you check out some of the already existing blog posts, you would agree with me that this is one of those blogs that you will be subscribed to, if you are into social media and what large enterprises like IBM are doing. Here is an excerpt of what the blog is about:

"Insights from the ibm.com team; a diverse group of people with a unique depth and breadth of experience in developing and managing a complex large enterprise site. The team will address many of the technical and managerial challenges associated with running such a large and complex website; focusing on the innovative solutions the team has or will be deploying. Topics covered will be diverse, ranging from asynchronous java and security to innovation in Agile and website accessibility."

With that introduction I bet a bunch of folks out there would be interested in syndicating its content. The good thing is that I know a couple of folks behind the actual blog and I can certainly share with you the kind of outstanding quality you are going to find there! Right now you will be able to find the names and positions held within IBM from each of the bloggers and a way to interact with them if you would want to add comments to their own blog posts.

Thus without much further ado, here is the first of many blog posts that I am sure you would find pretty interesting and engaging, to say the least: Test environments on the enterprise web. Drop by, say "Hi!" and get some dialogue going! It surely promises to be an interesting one! And me? What can I say? … Already subscribed!

Tags: IBM, Lotus Connections, Connections, Gia Lyons, ibm.com, SMT, Social Media Collective, Case Study, Social Media, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Software, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Collaboration, Communities, New Media, Metablogging, Blogging, Blogroll, Recommendations, Social Software Adoption, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Innovation

It is funny! Earlier on this morning, I had the intention of sharing with you folks something new I was going to re-introduce into this blog, as a way to celebrate these four years I have been living over here fully engaging with social software both inside and outside of the corporate firewall, and lo and behold, there I was having to postpone it for a few more hours, as I got alerted about something that I thought would be worth while sharing as well as part of such important celebration as today’s.

Yesterday late afternoon, I got contacted, through Skype, by Jerry Bowles, Co-founder and CEO from the Social Media Today collective, and he kindly asked me whether I would want to do an IM interview with him detailing some more about my role within IBM as a social computing evangelist as well as sharing some further thoughts on the impact that social software is having not only within IBM, but also with its various employees, like myself. Of course, I just couldn’t resist such an interesting offer and the result of it is SMT Blogger of the Week - Luis Suarez, The Blogger in Paradise.

In that particular article you would be able to read our Skype IM conversation on what kind of impact social networking has been having with myself and my various interactions with other knowledge workers, including my own boss, Gina Poole, who still keeps actively engaged with the internal blogosphere. Quite an interesting read, which clearly indicates how things are shifting within the corporate world, where employees may not longer be stranded in a fixed office in a traditional work location. On the contrary, with today’s pervasiveness of social computing along with the high penetration levels of broadband Internet connectivity, knowledge workers may be having the unique opportunity to decide where they would like to be working as their most motivating space to deliver on the job day in day out for an extended period of time!

Now, I am sure that everyone would understand that there are various different circumstances on how various knowledge workers get to interact with other colleagues, customers or business partners, but it is also very accurate to think that the traditional restrictions we once had about having to work from a fixed office work location may no longer be relevant in today’s distributed world. Such is the impact that social software is having amongst our current workforce where over 42% of the total population is now mobile; and I am surely glad to be one of those very very lucky guys who has got his dream job within such a large enterprise. And in Paradise.

Many people keep asking me what is the main business value from social software, and all along I have been saying something that certainly resonates with plenty of other folks out there as well. I am sure. In my own case, the main business value I am getting through social computing is the fact that the last three jobs I have had, have actually been given to me because of my corporate blogging activities, amongst several other tasks related to social networking. So, for those folks out there who may be thinking that that there isn’t value in social software, they ma need to think about it, because throughout my own experiences you can see that the impact can be tremendous, to say the least!!

What a great way to celebrate four years of coming to the place where I feel like home. Always have. Always will. And get to work on what I am really passionate about at the same time: Social Computing, Community Building and Knowledge Sharing! The picture shared below is just one of the thousands and thousands of reasons why I fell in love with the island four years ago and still am, just like in the first day …

Roque Bentaiga

Tags: St. Patrick’s Day, Saint Patrick, Patrick, Gran Canaria, Paradise, Jerry Bowles, Social Media Today, SMT, IBM, Blogging, Metablogging, Blogs, Gina Poole, Corporate Blogging, Corporate Blogs, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Software, Social Media, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Collaboration, Remote Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Innovation, Workplace, Virtual Teams, Online Communities, Skype, Mobile Workforce, Mobility, Flexibility, Work Life Balance, WLB, Working At Home, WAH, Knowledge Sharing, Knowledge Management, KM, Gran Canaria, Roque Bentaiga, Bentaiga, Mountains

Yes, that is right, folks! If you are into social computing and social software within the enterprise and beyond; if you would like to find out a whole lot more about IBM’s Lotus Connections; if you would like to find out some more about how IBM is actually driving the adoption of social networking within the corporate world; and if you would want to find a whole lot more from what’s in Gia’s mind, I would strongly encourage you all to subscribe to her, now external, blog!

Here is the blog post where Gia was mentioning she was going public: Public Gia. Read further on to see what she will be talking about and how you will be able to keep in touch with her through her blog (Yes, I know, about time! heh). And to give you a sense of what she has already posted in her external blog, here you have got some very interesting blog posts to get you going:

1. Connections is like the global lunch room. Beehive? Global cocktail hour!
2. The Connected Age: Are you a bursty Web worker?
3. The nature of males

Thus there you have it, another passionate IBMer blogging outside of the corporate firewall around the subject of social computing and social software, willing to dive into the external conversation on the Internet blogosphere with all of us. So go over to her blog, say "Hi!" and add her blog to your blogroll. I can guarantee you will be able to learn a thing or two, like we have been doing ourselves with her internal blog for a long while now, and have plenty of good fun all along!

Welcome on board, Gia, to the Internet Blogosphere! See what pressure can do to ya? heh

Tags: IBM, Metablogging, Blogs, Blogroll, Gia Lyons, Connected, Social Computing, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Media, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Innovation, Connections, Lotus Connections, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Collaboration, Remote Collaboration, Communities

To all this, you may remember that I only apply a single exception, which is when people send me an e-mail that may well be of a very sensitive nature, i.e. confidential material, or a private one-on-one conversation. The rest is going out elsewhere… i.e. on to social software tools!

I haven’t been blogging much over here on my actual progress report on how I am doing, whereas in my corporate blog I have been sharing, at least, one or two blog posts a week, so I thought I would break that over here and start sharing with you folks my progress. At least, with a weekly blog post, so that over time, and, over the course of the next few months, you would be able to find out how things are going.

Earlier on this week, I got contacted via IM at work by a couple of folks who thought I would not be able to pull it off together for so long and that eventually I would be giving in to it. And to that my answer has been that today is the end of the third week and I am still going strong. When I decided to take the plunge and make this bold move, I knew one thing for sure: there is no way back! Ever onwards!

Thus, on to the third week, and here is a screen shot with the progress report:

As you would be able to see what it once was 30 to 45 e-mails a day, now has turned into 39 e-mails a week!! And this just on the third week of trying it out! Over time I am expecting to keep this number going lower and lower and in the end try to re-purpose how I use e-mail at work, i.e. basically what it was first initially intended for: a one on one conversation / communication instrument. For the rest bring on the open, public conversation into whatever IBM’s social computing tool we both may be sharing!!

And you know the weirdest part of it all? Well, you are not going to believe it, but subconsciously I am starting to apply the same principles to my external e-mail in how I handle every single incoming e-mail and so far it is going great! I am starting to see a reduction in there as well. Not as drastic, but still very relevant and noteworthy. We shall see how it evolves further.

One thing for sure, is that I am getting a kick out of it, because by bringing the conversation out in the open and collaboratively work with my social networks to get the job done, I feel like I am contributing ever so much more to the overall social computing space and I guess that for a social software evangelist that is not a bad thing … is it?

Have a good one, everyone!!

(Oh, and now that I am done with various deadlines I had to finish off this week, and seeing what a long weekend I have got ahead of me as I am starting to prepare to go to Zürich on Sunday, I shall be getting back to the blog posts where a couple of folks have been sharing some further comments and will keep adding further into the overall conversation. See you there!)

Tags: IBM, Collaboration, Remote Collaboration, e-mail, email, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Media, Social Computing, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Innovation, Productivity, Conversations, Dialogue, Openness, Progress Reports, Confidentiality, Privacy, Private Conversations, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Collaboration 2.0

Between preparing a bunch of presentations for other folks and for myself on social computing for upcoming events I will be doing in all over the place (check out my Dopplr account for more details on where I plan to be over the next few weeks), and also putting together a bunch of enablement materials on various IBM social software tools for the team I am working with, things have been rather hectic, to put it mildly. On top of that, more and more people keep asking me to come over and present for them on social computing and explain some of the stuff that is going on at IBM in that regard, so kind of ensuring that I don’t mix up with those various invitations. That’s also taking a bit of time, for sure. Phew!

But, but, … but … I am surely loving it! I am enjoying it quite a bit because for the first time in several years that I have been doing lots of stuff around the subject of social computing, this time around the focus, the commitment, the energy to share that passion on social software all over the place is finding its way around and people keep asking about it and how they can engage themselves with it! And that, folks, is way cool! I have been saying this for a little while now, but the expectations that I had for this new job have actually exceeded all what I had in mind four months ago and ever so much more!! It is just fascinating!! I mentioned back then I was coming into my dream job and so far it hasn’t fallen short from that perception!

I am not too worried about the fact that it is taking me more and more of my time along with it, since I am thoroughly enjoying it thus far and that is what I always wanted in the first place for the last five years! I know that my regular blogging activities will be coming back shortly, too!

Apart from that, I am also enjoying my fight against my work e-mail and making some really good progress there. Still going strong! I know that I owe you folks out there a couple of blog posts on how things are going, and those will be coming up shortly. But for now, I just thought I would share a couple of comments in here to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about you . Just been a bit too hectic and that regular blogging will resume shortly with a whole bunch of stuff I want to share across not only from what I am getting exposed to, but also what I am seeing in the space of social computing in general and something major that will be happening to me in a couple of months that is going to change my life for good! Yes, it is that good! But you will have to wait till it becomes official … (Hint, hint, I already mentioned what it would be about a little while ago in Twitter). Yeah, I know, … a bit nasty! heh

But that will keep you busy trying to figure it out while I get back to normal over here and start putting together some more content on what drives my passion at the moment:

 Social Computing & Knowledge Sharing. Knowledge Sharing & Social Computing!

Tags: Blogging, Metablogging, Weblogging, Light Blogging, Dopplr, IBM, Social Computing, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Innovation, Remote Collaboration, Dream Job, Progress Report, Life, Work, Hectic, Twitter, Passion, Commitment, Energy, Efforts, Focus

That is right. Earlier on today, that particular interview I did with Peter was published over on the Internet and, if you are interested, you can grab it over here. To give you an idea of what you will find in there he is the summary published on the Web site:

"To some blogging is intriguing but mysterious. But with some basic tools and a few guidelines, it can be an effective business tool and even replace email as the center of work activity. The keys to successful blogging are writing about a theme you are passionate about, being consistent and persistent, having a thick skin and recognizing, above all else, that you are not in control. In essence, blogging is interactive, which means listening and reacting is as important as having your say."

From there onwards, there were a number of different questions I went through with Peter and I thought I would share some of them over here as well, so that you can get a glimpse of what you will find in the interview and how you may be able to skim through them easily:

Q. Could you say a bit about social computing and its emerging value to businesses?

Q. Back to blogging. What advice would you give to someone who wants, not necessarily to blog, but to get the most value (from a business perspective) from the blogs that are out there?

Q. This naturally leads to the advice you’d give someone who wants to be a successful blogger (for his or her career / business), since participation becomes inevitable. What would that advice be?

Q. One of your theses, which you put into practice, is making blogging, rather than face-to-face meetings or e-mail, the center of your work / life. Could you walk me through a typical day that illustrates this?

Q. This is almost unimaginable for some of us. Can it be approached with baby steps? If someone wants to make blogging central to their business life, what steps should they take?

Q. What are some of the creative uses of blogs that you’ve seen? What is your advice to those people?

Q. In your blogging life, have you had any surprises?

Q. On the other hand… Have you seen any blogging disasters? Any cautionary tales?

Q. Blogging, as with much of Web 2.0, is participatory, and possibly democratizing. Doesn’t this in some ways threaten management?

Q. Why do companies need to accept the ethos of blogging? Can there be a compromise between current business culture and this emerging participatory culture?
Does anything about the blogosphere worry you?

Q. How will blogging transform society?

Q. How does it change the discourse? Does it open up new topics? Change the depth? Engage new participants with different perspectives from text
bloggers?

Q. What do you see in the future for blogging and allied practices?

Yes, I realise that it is a long interview (Guess that’s what happens when you are excited about the topic you are passionate about! ), so without much further ado, I am just going to point you to Effecting Blogging: Joining the conversation from where you can download the full PDF IBM Executive Technology Report.

Hope you enjoy it, just as much as I did going through the interview with Peter. And stay tuned, because in that same interview I have already hinted some things about my new mission at work with the current job I do on a daily basis for this year. Some people may find it shocking. Some people may find it impossible. I can only say it’s now my reality!!

Tags: IBM, Executive Technology Report, Executive Business Institute, EBI, Peter Andrews, Effecting Blogging, Blogs, Metablogging, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Software, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Innovation, Conversations, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, ibm.com, e-mail, Productivity, Blogging 101, Technology Adoption