One of the key characteristics of “Web 2.0” is social software, used to bring together and facilitate community interaction.
This week, I add one of the emerging leaders in social software, enterprise wiki provider SocialText, to my list of Emerging Content Technologies. SocialText develops and hosts wikis for companies for both internal and external use. Wikis are rapidly beginning to replace intranets and portals for managing the communications around projects.
Unlike earlier knowledge management tools, wikis can rapidly increase productivity. According to SocialText CEO Ross Mayfield, “a typical wiki can eliminate 30% of the email around a project.”
One key to the success of SocialText, and wikis in general, is their decentralized structure. Rather than a centralized, IT-focused solution, a SocialText wiki can be set up by non-technical staff in a short time. Typical projects involve a handful of initial users, then once a critical mass of information is developed they expand to a wider audience. By sharing control with their user community, sponsors of wikis can drive participation and a feeling of ownership.
As a Web 2.0 company, SocialText is committed to an open environment. They will soon release an Open Source version and are involved in various open source initiatives today.
What’s the opportunity for publishers?
According to Elsevier Vice Chair Y.S. Chi, as content becomes commoditized, “the role of the publisher is beginning to shift from creator of content to manager of markets”. Publishers have the ability to leverage their brand to develop communities focused around a given subject area. Using wiki technology to cultivate a strong user community can provide you with a platform to sell various solutions to that market. The difficult part for publishers will be ceding the absolute control that publishers are accustomed to. But for those who do, the rewards may be significant.
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