In September Google released a new application called Sidewiki. It’s a browser plug-in that allows users to comment on any website he wants to do. The comments are visible for all other sidewiki users giving it a hugh potential impact for all corporates taking care for their reputation. Like with lots of social media tools there is not much you can do to prevent people using it. Thus its definitiv something to watch out and get acquainted with before you get aspersed on your Corporate Website or online Annual Report.
At least you should claim your site(s) to show you are aware of this tool and keep an eye on its impact. Read more at http://www.google.com/sidewiki/intl/en/index.html
I would be very much interested how this quite powerful tool develops. If you have any experience with Sidewiki on your website, please share it with me! Most interesting seems to me:
- What kind of comments do you get?
- Do you get them at all?
- Is there a privacy issue in your view?
- Do you plan to use sidewiki yourself?
- Is this something your analysts and investors are aware of, or using already?
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Posted by Obi Onyeaso on November 10, 2009 at 15:18
Thank you for the timely post Thomas,
The subject is an apt one and should concern all custodians of an institution’s identity on the web, investor relations officers included.
However, I have a number of reservations about how soon before we begin to see a thousand flowers blossom on sidewikis.
I could list several reasons, but here are the top four:
1) Adaptation of commenting habits: Many users would sooner comment in the Comments section, like I am doing now, rather than in the sidewiki. People make comments so that they will be seen and discussed, so they will go to the most obvious locale. This may sound a bit round-circle, but until a site’s sidewiki gains critical mass, many visitors (read investors, customers, clients) will continue to prefer making comments on the traditional bottom of page space.
2) Utility: Sidewiki is not really a convenience, either for companies or for visitors. For companies that want comments, they’d add Disqus or IntenseDebate or other commenting tool to their site. For visitors that want to make comments, good or bad, they probably already have other locales, fan or hostile, where they can express their enthusiasm or vent their bile.
3) Cutting edge: In spite of the fact that all it takes is the installation of the Google Toolbar, Sidewiki is still ‘cutting edge’. As Clay Shirky has correctly noted, things do not get socially interesting until they get socially boring. And there has to be a common standard that does not require a Gmail account. Think how far Google search would have gone if it required everyone to have Gmail accounts. Not very far I think.
4) Convenience of discovery: Sidewiki still has a long way to go in terms of organizing comments (sorting by subject, date, contributor, site section, geographical location, etc), feeding them to other sites. It is quite a lot of hassle to be scrolling down forever in a small side bar, even though it is expandable.
Well these are just my random thoughts and penny contributions.
I hope it stimulates further discussion on the subject.
Please keep up your coverage of the issues that affect our practice in investor relations. I certainly benefit a lot from them.
Thank you.
Obi
Posted by Thomas Rosenmayr on November 10, 2009 at 15:54
Hi Obi,
many thanks for this insightful contribution! You raised some very good points.
From a technical point of view Sidewiki takes away content that previously was donated to the disposal of a website holder now giving back the authority to the originator of the comment.
I think success of Sidewiki will be decided through how easy it is to use (good point on gmail account) and what the user can do with “his” comments at some point. E.g. make them even private for not sharing with competitors!
Best wishes
Thomas