Attended the Oxford Forum on Entrepreneurship and Innovation last night for the annual Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford jamboree. This year’s focus was Networks in the 21st Century and there were some impressive speakers and thoughts on business taking advantage of online social networks.
The theme running through the evening was that social networks were simply, like the internet itself, as Bob Young kept saying, a tool, and not an industry or VC-fundable idea. The power of these networks to develop communities, identities, and (something that has plagued the interweb since its populist foundations) trust was discussed. Case studies mentioned included, rather naturally, ebay’s feedback system and wikipedia, although, frankly, there wasn’t enough discussion of the weaknesses of social networks and collective work as typified by what goes on in those wikis. (Jane Fonda, anyone?)
Mirroring the Q&A with Alan Sugar last week, talk ultimately turned to Apple, and there were some interesting thoughts as to why, when they seem to try to totally ignore the social networks build around the company, they are so successful in developing this community of followers. I think the conclusion was that when you have as good a product designer as Steve Jobs, coupled with excellent marketing, a company can succeed no-matter how little attention it pays to social networking.
Other coverage: Michael S. Malone (abc)
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I have often seen reminiscences of people I have never even heard of, and I fail to see -- because I do not happen to be a 'Somebody' -- why my blog should not be interesting. My only regret is that I did not commence it when I was a youth.
