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The Surest Path to Social
Publishing
Open Source, Drupal and Acquia
Executive SummarySocial technologies on the web have changed forever how organizations interact with their communities. Companies, government bodies, schools and universities are rethinking the possibilities and relationships they share with customers, constituents, students and faculty.
People congregate more and more every day in online communities, such as forums and social networks, where they share information and opinions about everything from the news and sports, to their work and family lives, to the products and services that they purchase.
This new generation of information consumers no longer relies solely on traditional media for knowledge. They look to bloggers and citizen journalists, a new generation of authorities who self-publish opinions and reviews. They search the web for user-generated content like product reviews, online tutorials, and instructional videos.
Where people interact with organizations, like companies and government entities, preference is shown for organizations that welcome and even invite dynamic, personal interaction. Visitors and members expect to be treated uniquely: for their preferences and patterns to be recalled when they return to company sites, for their contribution to discussion groups or support forums to earn them recognition and authority.
Market leading companies are delivering these experiences, and turning their customers into virtual product managers and lifelong brand champions by taking customer feedback provided on the website or in a support forum and driving it directly into product plans.
MSKU#: 00162 The Surest Path to Social Publishing
Government institutions are providing unprecedented visibility into the issues and decisions e!ecting citizens' lives in a time of signi"cant challenge and change.
Schools and universities are enhancing collaboration, and therefore learning. Simultaneously they are enhancing the visibility of their institutions on the web.
As a result, businesses must respond by becoming more than just one-way content drones shouting out the capabilities of their products and services from the safety of a corporate mountaintop. Elected o#cials must engage their constituents on their terms, online, not every few years in the privacy of the voting booth. Institutions of higher learning distinguish themselves entirely on the basis of authority - which is developed and maintained to this day according to the adage, "publish or perish": continue to advance thought leadership in intellectual pursuit, or risk a perception of diminished value in the world of higher education.
All organizations must, in our view, become social publishers who seek to remove communication barriers and enhance collaboration throughout: amongst employees, between them and their respective communities. In so doing, social publishers embrace the wisdom of the crowd, and build their authority and reputation while mingling directly and joining in the markets they intend to serve.
From the information consumer's perspective, social publishing companies provide access and in!uence. When people feel they have access to conversations with in organization, both internally with management, and externally, (as well as with other customers, voters or students), they feel better connected to that organization. With that access, people feel they have the opportunity to in!uence decision-making - whether to share an innovative concept or opinion, improve product or process quality.
People who feel they have access to and the opportunity to exert in$uence over others build loyalty to those people and organizations.
For organizations that embrace social publishing, barriers are removed between publisher and consumer. Trust builds. Productivity grows. Transparency replaces bureaucracy.
We believe that to ful"ll this promise, you need a social publishing platform which is rich in functionality, is built by one of the world's largest community of developers,
Acquia The Surest Path to Social Publishing 3
Social impact of technology: and is backed by the support and services to ensure reliability and performance of
Print Journalism your company's web presence. The Drupal project (drupal.org) has built that social
After 146 years in operation, the Seattle Post publis... [download for more]
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