Thinking About Networks and Social Media and Online Collaborations

Notes About Networks and Technology

View more presentations from Beth Kanter.

One of the most enjoyable activities as visiting scholar at the Packard Foundation is being able to participate in think tanks on a topic.    Most of the ones that I have attended have been convened by Monitor Institute as part of their network practice. 

Both today and tomorrow, I've been participating in a convening with funders and others to discuss networks.  If you want to follow along, we're using the #networkf tag on Twitter.  What's nice to see is that everyone is much more comfortable with live tweeting, being more transparent.  The guidelines are no live tweeting of confidential information!  

In fact, one of the presenters mentioned how she had discovered the tag from the last meeting and was able to follow along.   I find this useful to be able to connect with subject matter experts outside the room to ask questions or bounce ideas.  And even though the responses are 140 characters, it can stimulate your thinking.

The focus of the day was on the life cycles of networks and Theory of Change Archetypes for Networks.  As I was taking notes,  I was thinking about the whole question of how and where selection of social media and online collaboration and communications fits - and the bigger picture.   Much higher than the balcony, up about 10,000 feet where you can put messy social media tools and network behavior into neat boxes.

Sanjeev Khagram, iScale, took us through a draft white paper on Network Life Cycle.  The paper will be published later next month, but it stimulated an incredible conversation.  For me, it helped me think more clearly about relating network life cycle to the network's selection of online collaboration and communications - both those for private conversations and those for more open conversations.

It made me think of Nancy White, Etienne Wenger, and John Smith's work with online communities of practice. As Sanjeev was presenting, I wondered if the communities of practice orientation might work for a network? I asked Nancy White on Twitter and her answer got me doodling on Powerpoint (see above).

We also had a presentation and discussion on catalyzing networks from Claire Reineit The big aha moment for me was the use of social networking analysis as an evaluation tool to look at relationships and collaboration over time.

Steve Downs from Robert Wood Johnson shared some reflections on a foundation-wide effort to become a web 2.0 Philanthropy and working in a network mindset. It generated an insightful discussion about crowdsourcing for innovation and social change, organizational culture issues, and more.

Comments

[June Holley]

The biggest difference between Communities of Practice/formalized Networks and self-organizing networks is that CoPs and formalized Networks have boundaries and membership.

They have their uses but they are not designed for viral spread the way self-organizing networks are. What you show in your last slide will only happen if people know how to identify others (reaching across traditional boundaries and outside their CoPs/formal Networks) interested in working on some new innovation/experiment, do something, and then share the breakthroughs they made with others. That how we get increased impact: through ever spreading collaborative action that includes those we don't usually hang out with.

[Sara Elkins]

Beth -

What advice would you give to a NP that is just starting out leveraging the Web for fund-raising? Where do you begin?

[Elaine Gantz Wright]

Beth - Thanks of for this post. This concept of "collaborative action" is fascinating and very potent, but I struggle with the "herding cats" aspect of the network logistics, execution, and management. Ironically, I think Sara's comment (above) speaks to question I clicked to pose. In this period of morphing social action, what role does the traditional 501 c 3 play? Can you paint a picture of the hybrid philanthropiclandscape?

[Saqib Ali]

Beth,

Loved the Network Orientation slide. Can I re-use it (with proper credits, of course)?

Thanks,
Saqib

[Priyanka D]

I agree #tags makes it easier for lot of people to connect.

[iridiumInteractive]

Liked your presentation on Network and technology..

[bayrak]

Congratulations !
Very very nice site
Thank you.. =)

[Meaghan Thomas]

Hi, Beth.
I really enjoy your blog. There are so many non-profits that could benefit from social media--they just need some guidance in how to it effectively.

Can you please e-mail me your e-mail. I couldn't find it on your blog or wiki pages. I think you and perhaps some of the non-profits you work with would be interested in Bambera.com. I'd like to send you some information and answer any questions you may have.

Cheers,
Meaghan

[Simon Mainwaring]

Thanks so much, Beth. The notes are really valuable. Following on your charts and also the comments above, it seems NP and Foundations would benefit greatly from an ongoing open source approach to what they're learning, much like Architecture for Humanity does. With needs so many and varied, we need to collaborate as much as possible.

Thanks for the great example and the slideshare,

Simon Mainwaring

[Account Deleted]

Good post. The concept of "collaborative action" is very interesting. After all social media marketing is a very powerful tool.
David Plouffe’s,(President Barack Obama’s point man on social media) innovative strategy not only got Obama elected but also managed to raise the largest amount of campaign funding in election history.
At the http://link.imd.ch/dpzyp" target=”_blank”> IMD OWP 2010 , David Plouffe will share his insights on the historic Obama campaign while framing it in the context of how Obama's leadership is shaping the United States and the world today. Weaving in his own experience managing and leading the campaign that propelled Obama into the White House, Plouffe will share: the stories behind the campaign and current strategic issues facing the administration; the importance of strategy in managing campaigns, public policy initiatives and crises; how Obama is still garnering support from the movement created during the campaign.