The Societal Web Journey

An earlier article 5 era's of the Social Web discussed recent Forrester research by Jeremiah Owyang which concluded there will be 5 era's of social web development.

1. The era of social relationships: Beginning in the mid-1990s, people signed up for online profiles and connected with their friends to share information.
2. The era of social functionality: As it exists today, social networking is more than just a platform for "friending," but one that can support a broader array of what Owyang calls "social interactive applications." However, identities are essentially disconnected silos within individual sites.
3. The era of social colonization: By late 2009, technologies such as OpenID and Facebook Connect will begin to break down the barriers of social networks and allow individuals to integrate their social connections as part of their online experience, blurring the lines between networks and traditional sites.
4. The era of social context: In 2010, sites will begin to recognize personal identities and social relationships to deliver customized online experiences. Social networks will become the "base of operation for everyone's online experiences."
5. The era of social commerce: In approximately two years, social networks will be more powerful than corporate Web sites and CRM systems, as individual identities and relationships are built on this platform. Brands will serve community interests and grow based on community advocacy as users continue to drive innovation in this direction.

These Era's start in the 1990's and we are around half way through the changes but the pace of change accelerates and we'll enter the final era very soon. The whole article is Social Media - The Five Year Forecast

That is the macro development but for those of us engaged in working through the Societal Web journey we join on day one of our own experience wherever we are in the era's of development. Luckily for those becoming aware of this arena today they have a wide wealth of experience to draw on.

In the Societal Web individuals first become aware of the possibilities, they become concious of it. Those who develop and learn about what is possible integrate Societal Web working into their businesses and the two become cohesive. This journey is not a quick one, but it is getting faster as individuals draw on the experience of others and learn from the mistakes made along the way.

There's a clear link between the research Forrester undertook at the Macro level and this individual model, Forrester predict that in two or three years sufficient numbers of key staff in large organisations will be Socially Cohesive and will bring their brands deeply into the conversations that take place between those brands and their audiences of customers and suppliers. The identification that brands will serve the communities interests rather than be self serving (because that's actually the way to become successful in the Societal Web world) is about being cohesive.

Tagged as: Forrester, Social Cohesion, Social Collaboration, Social Conciousness, Social Conversation, Social Cooperation