Web 2.0, Social Computing, and Online Communities
From Information Systems at Pitt Business
Wikis, blogs, virtual worlds, predictive markets, online forums, crowdsourcing, mass collaboration -- these are just a few of the technologies and techniques that firms are working with in the arena of social computing. As these technologies develop, firms are increasingly looking for ways to use them to market products, support development, facilitate communication and improve decision making.
Within the Pitt Business IS community there are a variety of efforts and activities that are focused on better understanding how you can apply these technologies and techniques to achieve important individual, group, and organizational level goals.
[edit] Online Communities in Healthcare: Challenges and Opportunities
Chronic disease management, patient support groups, integrated care teams for rural and underserved populations, and contining education for isolated and innovative healthcare professionals - these are just of the few of the contexts in which social computing technologies are being borught to bear to augment, and potentially transform, heathcare delivery. As social networking technologies, wikis, blogs, and other Web 2.0 technologies and techniques gain acceptance and reach there is increasing attention given to how these technologies can be used (and sometimes misused) to provide support, information, and assistance for both patients and health care professionals.
This presentation by Professor Brian Butler describes the key technologies and techniques associated with Web 2.0, outlines fundamental principles underlying successful social computing initiatives, and discusses key challenges that developers and leaders face when working with online communities.
To see the presentation slides and other resources about Healthcare and Web 2.0...
[edit] Web 2.0: Challenges and Opportunities
Wikis, blogs, virtual worlds, predictive markets, online forums, crowdsourcing, mass collaboration -- these are just a few of the technologies and techniques that fall under the umbrella of Web 2.0. As these technologies develop, firms are increasingly looking for ways to use them to market products, support development, facilitate communication, and improve decision making. Understanding when and how these tools and techniques can be successfully applied is an important part of being able to bring them to bear to solve the problems that your organization faces.
This presentation by Professor Brian Butler describes the key technologies and techniques, considers principles underlying successful Web 2.0 applications, and discusses key challenges that firms face when developing social computing capabilities.
[edit] Applying Web 2.0 Technologies in Today’s Business Organizations
According to Tim O'Reilly, the founder and chief executive of O'Reilly Media, the computer book publisher, and an evangelist for open source technologies, creativity is no longer about which companies have the most visionary executives, but who has the most compelling "architecture of participation."
But what does this really mean for your workgroup or organization?
T.J. Greenier (Part-Time MBA Program) of Concurrent Technologies Corporation, under the guidance of Professor Brian Butler, developed a white paper focused on the application of Web 2.0 technologies in business organizations.
To read the white paper and the learn more about the project...
[edit] Organizing User Participation in Online User Communities
User participation has been studied extensively and found to increase user satisfaction and system acceptance. However, system development practices are changing as systems become more complex, requirements become more uncertain and dynamic, user populations become more diverse and distributed, and development methods more iterative and flexible. These changes threaten to undermine traditional face-to-face user participation mechanisms, making user engagement more expensive and difficult at the same time that it is becoming more important. Dr. Xiaoqing Wang (Katz IS Phd, 2007), Professor Laurie Kirsch, and Professor Brian Butler draw on the open source software movement and studies of online communities to propose that organizing users in online user communities (i.e. groups that engage in regular discussions regarding a new system via a common, Internet-based infrastructure), can lead to desirable outcomes such as user satisfaction, system acceptance, and individuals’ willingness to continue to participate in the community and development process.
To read the paper, see the presention, and the learn more about the project...
[edit] Current Topics in MIS: The Business of Blogs, Online Communities, and Social Computing
In this Current Topics in MIS course taught by Professor Brian Butler, we examined issues associated with business use of social computing technologies. Through a combination of readings, discussion, presentations, and hands-on projects we examined (i) the characteristics of key social computing technologies (including, but not limited to, blogs, wikis, content management systems (CMS), and social network systems), (ii) the nature of online communities and development processes for creating them, (iii) the business models underlying successful social computing ventures such as Myspace.com, YouTube.com, and Flickr.com, and (iv) approaches used by other firms to evaluate, apply, and manage these technologies within their organizations.
To read more about this course...
[edit] Web 2.0 and Pharmaceuticals Marketing
What does Web 2.0 really mean and what opportunities does it present firms in the Pharmaceuticals industry?
Working with a major pharmaceuticals firm, a team of Katz MBA and MBA/MS-MIS students (George Zhang, Jen-Wei Hung, Amee Parikh, Chao-Yin Wu, and Dustyn Brown) and faculty (Brian Butler) studied Web 2.0 technologies (wikis, blogs, collective tagging, etc.) and proposed high-inmpact business initiatives that would leverage these emerging technologies.
To read the white papers, see the presentions, and the learn more about the project...
