If you haven’t read the story of the Microsoft Blue Monster, and Hugh’s thoughts on social objects, I highly recommend it. The full blue monster story is here on Hugh’s blog. I was just rereading it for an upcoming talk that discusses Social Objects.
And of course I would be remiss if I did not embed the video of Jyri Engstrom talking about social objects from 2006.
From Jyri’s talk on strategy when you are building a web site around a social object:
- Define your object
- Define your verbs
- Make those objects shareable
- Turn invitations to gifts
- Charge the publishers not the spectators
Rephrased as a question checklist (from 22:21 in the video)
- What is your object?
- What are your verbs?
- How can people share the object?
- What is the gift in the invitation?
- Are you charging the publishers or the spectators?
Great notes from the video are posted here.
Along a similar line of research I was reminded of Activity Theory as it relates to Social Objects. From slide 12:
- Actors have Agency
- Power over objects
- Attraction to objects
- Objects have a lifecycle
- Construction
- Instantiation
- Linking
One of those posts that are mostly for me. But if you read this blog, you already know that. #peace