So, finally people came to conclusion that online rules of purchasing are just the same as offline rules, i.e.- my friend recommeded me that thing( or company) and I have heard so many great things about them...Nothing new, really
You make a great observation that many of the LinkedIn group have a high "noise to signal ratio" - meaning they are filled with vendor promotional announcements and other messages that are considered to be "vendor spam". Some groups are well moderated and they keep out these promotional messages (or at least move them to the Promotions area of the group.)
At IT Central Station (www.itcentralstation.com) vendors are prevented from posting promotional messages or reviews about their products (or of competitor products) in order to keep the discussion relevant, on topic, and valuable to the buyer community.
In light of this reality, the No. 1 reason listed above for participating in social networks during the purchasing process -- to learn and benefit from trusted peers -- gets sidelined. IT decision makers are left with the questions: Is it easy to find trusted peers on LinkedIn and other social networks? Are there reviews we can rely on?
While the information provided by social networks like LinkedIn, as well as industry analysts, can be very valuable, another survey from Forrester Research indicates that the most important content to technology buyers is access to "peer experiences" and "product ratings and reviews."
I find these statements a little contradictive . Forrester research is declaring that peers reviews and ratings is the most useful and valuable data for IT
decision makers.The question is how can this content be useful when LinkedIn and other social media is still dealing with spam reviews ??
I think one of the more appealing aspects of using social networking for purchasing is you get real world reviews and get to hear the rants and raves about products, services or companies in whole. It's a great way to gather feedback and at least pick a starting direction.
Yes, I'm skeptical that Linkedin influences IT purchasing decisions as much as Gartner or other consulting reports. I'm not even sure that Facebook really influences much consumer behavior, so how much influence does professional networking really have?
Unfortunately though, too often not enough knowledge is gathered by those who want to pull the trigger on social networking and 'assume' it's a simple, one-stop ordeal. This is why some companies hire people specifically to manage their social networking, because those companies get it (or try to get it at least). It really isn't as simple as setting it up and letting it flow; like you said, it takes dedication and follow-through to keep it going and get your ROI.
Selecting the right platform is an important step towards creating an effective social IT support environment. Hosting a social IT environment demands a greater commitment than just opening a service platform to end users. It requires care and feeding. Potential users need to be encouraged to visit and use the system and some training and major culture change will be required in many cases. Social IT administrators also need to follow up on user suggestions, incidents and problems
Alison, the key here is that if the person posting the review sticks to facts, then he/she is protected and won't be found guilty of libel. So the lesson for reviewers of technology products is to stick to the facts and also do not share confidential information or company trade secrets. Other than that, you should feel free to exercise your freedom of speech and be heard!
I agree with the fact that we look at our peers and seeing what they are doing and buying, however at the end of the day we make our own decisions by doing comparisons on the products by considering whether it responses the challenges we are facing in the environment and/or if it is cost effective for our own business.
Agreed. I don't think anyone could have predicted that social networks would eventually have such a large role in IT or business operations and decisions. And yet, here we are.
I would have to say that it is largely due to the people factor. After all, to do business, you have to deal with people. To sell your goods, you have to build relationships with customers. That makes social networking something worth considering.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
Social media has been with us for a decade -- but employer policies and the law are anything but firm about the most appropriate usage of this powerful tool.
Businesses often struggle to decide which domain to use. When it comes to purchasing a domain name, you have plenty of extensions to choose from, ranging from .com and .net, to .me, and even .mobi. But which one should you pick?
I've been writing about how the next evolution of the Internet might just be an advertising revolution, and how corporate IT can stay involved as the enablers and providers of the technologies that make this possible.
In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
