Book,
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
Mcgraw-Hill Professional, (2008)Charlene Li works for Forrester Research, a company well-known for its research on social media. "Web-Strategist" Jeremiah Owyang whose blog is among the top50 ad-blogs world-wide (http://www.web-strategist.com/blog) also works there as an analyst. I heartily recommend his blog if you're interested in social media and its impact on the business world..
Abstract
Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff define 'the groundswell' as a social structure in which technology puts power into the hands of individuals and communities, not institutions. We see examples of this all around us: Second Life, You Tube, Twitter, etc. The technology that is enabling this has created a permanent, long lasting shift in the way the world works. This compelling and research-based book will not only identify the emerging components of this shift, but will also help companies build their businesses around it, regardless of what specific new technologies come along. The word on social computing has been out for a while. It's game changing. Books like Wikinomics begin to describe what the networked world has become. But institutions of all kinds need more than descriptive context.They need tools to navigate the shift in power that social computing and web communities have created. They need data on how their customers use and perceive new media, and guidance about what it means to their business. More than that, they need sophisticated advice that tells them how to turn this new reality to their advantage. This book provides that data and advice.
