A Social KM Story: Use Cases, Issues

Envision a sacred temple of wisdom – an age old library teeming with archaic volumes that lay unread on brazen oak shelves. The catch is that these books are alive. They don't sit there — they whisper to each other, tell secrets and trade thoughts as ideas constantly adapting. This is not a fairy-tale, neither it should be considered as one. This narrative illustrates how things are happening in organizations today! · This new knowledge is no longer restricted to the pages of a book or document – it has life, changeability and above all else — society.

Buckle up guys, this is the spooky sexy world of social knowledge management (KM), where knowledge has a life. You might try to grab it, put it in a bottle of data, but somehow the little pieces slip out and fit somewhere else - amongst new plants — or they even shoot back up at you! Thus, the story of how organizations grapple with this living knowledge — seeking to unleash its potency but not allowing themselves swept up in a tsunami force.

The Social Media Revolution

Here we have social media, the wildest beast of all in digitization. Like most things, there is what appears on the surface: memes and cat videos and status updates for days. Behind that playful facade, however, is far more sinister Social media is the information beast, it's where knowledge is born and dies.

Where wikis become our current day grimoires, capturing and organizing the magic — I mean information — of an organization. Except these are not really stagnant warehouses. Never mind, these are “living documents” that can be updated at any given time and argued over until they're rewritten altogether. And you get things like social networking tools, the cauldrons in which ideas boil and percolate, giving rise either to great innovations or… well…. let's just say that some brews are best left unopened.

What’s truly fascinating—and a bit unsettling—is how seamlessly social media blends the old with the new. On one hand, you have the codification approach, capturing knowledge in a tangible form. On the other, there’s the personalization approach, where knowledge isn’t just stored but shared, experienced, and even reshaped by those who interact with it. Social media brings these two together in a way that’s almost... organic, like the way a fungus spreads through a forest, unseen but all-consuming.

Applications of Social Knowledge Management

Now, let’s follow the trail of breadcrumbs deeper into this dark forest of knowledge management. Social media isn’t just playing around on the edges; it’s carving out whole new pathways in how organizations manage their knowledge.

1. Wikis for Collaborative Learning: Think of wikis as the enchanted forests of knowledge. Employees venture in, leaving behind breadcrumbs of wisdom for others to follow. But beware—these forests are ever-changing, paths shifting with every new contribution. It’s a place where silos crumble, and knowledge flows freely, but only if you’re brave enough to navigate the ever-shifting terrain.
2. Internal Social Networks: These are the secret societies within organizations, where members gather in hidden chambers—well, virtual ones—to share their most guarded secrets. These networks are where departments cross paths, alliances are formed, and sometimes, rivalries spark innovation. It’s a place where ideas are traded like forbidden artifacts, each one carrying the potential to change the organization’s future.
3. Crowdsourcing Ideas: Here’s where things get really interesting. Crowdsourcing ideas through social media is like summoning a horde of spirits. You don’t know what you’ll get—sometimes it’s pure genius, other times it’s utter chaos. But in that chaos lies potential, the kind that can only be harnessed by those willing to sift through the noise, looking for the signal that could transform everything.

Challenges to Overcome

But with great power comes great peril. Social media, with all its potential, also has a dark side. The first danger? Knowledge dilution. Imagine trying to find a needle in a haystack, except the haystack is growing exponentially by the second. As more content floods the system, it becomes harder to separate the wheat from the chaff, to find the true nuggets of wisdom amidst the noise.

Then there’s the specter of outdated knowledge. Social media moves fast—blink, and you might miss something crucial. But that speed can be a double-edged sword. What was true yesterday might be false today, and without proper oversight, misinformation can spread like wildfire, leading your organization down a dangerous path.

And let’s not forget the cultural ghosts that haunt every organization. Not everyone is comfortable with social media, and the thought of using it for work can send shivers down their spines. Overcoming this fear, providing the right training and support, is crucial if you’re to turn these reluctant souls into confident knowledge sharers.

Finally..

Social knowledge management isn’t just a tool—it’s a living, breathing entity, one that can empower your organization or overwhelm it, depending on how you wield it. Social media has the power to revolutionize how knowledge is managed, but only if you approach it with both respect and caution.

The organizations that will thrive in this new age of knowledge management are those that embrace the mystery, that dive into the unknown with eyes wide open. They’ll be the ones who understand that knowledge isn’t just something to be managed—it’s something to be lived, experienced, and, yes, sometimes feared. But in that fear lies the opportunity for true innovation, the kind that can change the world.