A few random thoughts as we near the end of February

So few thoughts, so much time…  Oh wait, I think I meant so many thoughts, so little time….  Oh well, either way, in no random order, here are a few of the items I have on my mind at the moment:

• Facebook was granted a patent for news feeds…. Dear Patent Office, could you please give me the name of the insightful geniuses that approved this patent.  I have decided to patent the respiration system, having used it for years I feel I deserve a patent for my role in its development.  Dear Citizen’s of planet earth, don’t fear, you can still use yours but you may have to pay me a small fee.
• The White House is working to hire an official Tweeter for the President.  Mr. President, I have a face for Twitter and would appreciate your consideration for this position.  I like this move, honestly, as the majority of senior political twitter accounts are 1-way push communication channels.  If this is an account that will engage in 2-way dialog, good move.
• The open government movement is real and is being taken seriously by those inside and outside the government.  Well known citizens like Craig Newmark and Tim O’Reilly are doing their part but we all must participate.  While there are countless examples, pay attention to:
  • The Federal Agency IdeaScale Dashboard, OpenGovTracker, is continuing to evolve as a platform and, even more importantly, great ideas are being discussed daily across a variety of agencies.  You have to check this out.
  • The Top 10 Government Twitters To Follow is a great place to find some passionate people who are driving this change.  Check it out and, while you’re there, could you give me your three votes?  Well, since you’re there anyway, I thought I would ask…
• Those that doubt the power of Social CRM need to reconsider.  Yesterday, while struggling with my Comcast network access, I was able to get out a tweet to the good people at Comcast.  Within 5 minutes a rep, ComcastBonnie, was on it.  With a communication style fitting Twitter she quickly had the problem resolved.  Thank you.
• I like the moves being made by Lithium on the partnership front.  Their partnership with Sapient is a sign of good things to come, expect more announcements soon.
• I read a great post on how to handle negative comments in social media and blog that I highly recommend you read.
  • The conversation reminded me of the poor behavior of some of my fellow members of the Social CRM community, the anonymous attacks I wrote about recently.  As is often the case, addressing the comments head on (offering to let them respond on a blog post) resulted in them quietly disappearing.  When have negative comments or anonymous attacks, address them in the open.  If there is value in their comments, recognize it.
• Finally, a prediction.  Watch Salesforce in Q2.  My money is on them buying a listening platform, perhaps Radian6.  It would be a great addition to their offering and I like that pairing.

What is on your mind?

John

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