Integrated Social Networks (2)

January 23rd, 2007 Robert Bosman

In the last blog post about the next generation of social networks (in the previous blog post called Integrated Social Networks or INS), a list of essential characteristics of such networks was mentioned. In this article we want to talk a little more about three of those: a profound INS will be for each of it’s private, corporate or governmental users Multi-role as well as Multi-dimensional and will enable Full data aggregation.

It is easy to underestimate both the bearing and the consequences of this statement. So let’s illustrate it using the following graphic:

We see an individual (or a collection), that has at least one role in two organizations. Almost all organizations have all kinds of formal and informal sub-organizations: divisions, subsidiaries, business units, projects, meetings, etc etc. In essence those subs are the different roles of an organization. So, in reality the person in the picture above, will not only be connected to the organizations as such, but also to one or more of the sub-organizations. Consequently, both people as organizations are inter-connected and ‘multi-role’. And they will both have many types of information: appointments, tasks, messages, documents, products etc. Moreover, people also have all kinds of personal relations, that may also generate those types of information. So ‘full data aggregation’ has to cover all kinds of information. But that aggregation of data will be different for each person, each organizations and each sub-organization, because they all share different parts of the whole information warehouse; so each player has to be able to see and maintain that part of all information they are entitled to. In other words, “multi dimension” means that each player has to be able to see and maintain a different dimension of all data available.

So, people ask: Show me my network, not only the connections I have in one social networks, but in all of them, including all organizations and governments I am connected to. And show me my aggregated organizations, projects and meetings. And the products I bought over time, not only per store, but of all stores. Show me an aggregated overview of my financial situation, my insurances. And give me access to all documents I created, read or still have to read for the next meetings I am going to.

Likewise, organizations come up with about the same questions, but than not in the ‘I’ format, but in ‘We’ and ‘Us’. And of course, each organization and sub-organization is a dimension in itself. In the graphic above, 3 dimensions are visualized, all as a cloud with a different color; but in reality we should show a whole rainbow!

In essence governments, governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, intra-governmental organizations and supra-governmental organizations are all just organizations with a different type of ‘business’ and different responsibilities. The main difference between those organizations and all others, is that they have either the power to make rules for all other players in the field or a role in the execution of that rules (we will write about the opportunities in Society 4.0 that arise from this power later on). But from the point of view of organizational processes, those organizations are not different at all. So the organizations in the graphic above, may also be any kind of governmental organizations.

All of the above illustrates both the desireability of fully integrated social networks as wll asthe complexity of it. And how can we solve complexity? As always, by looking at the details and see the simple solutions that are available; and we think Euler’s wisdom and mathematics may help us in this matter. Last century we found that we can brake down all information in the world into zeros and ones; this century we will find a solution to make human cooperation in any type of organization so easy, that we never ever can imagine the administrative complexity - maybe we should be honest and just call it a mess! - of today.

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Entry Filed under: Internet 4.0, Society 4.0