The Social Software Weblog is running a series of short surveys on YASNS (Yet Another Social Networking Service)- its a great initiative - and makes me think its time someone started building normative 'consumer' data in this industry, to be used as a benchmark against which dipsticks can be done at intervals.  94 as an absolute sample size is statistically rigorous - the researcher in me is now thinking of how 'representative' is this sample. 

This could perhaps be a pre-cursor to a larger survey at some point in time !

YASNS BlogPoll Survey Results

"A short and incomplete survey indeed, but the results are:



This is just the first in a series of simple polls I will be performing of readers who are experimenting with various social networking services.  The next poll will be: ìHow many social networking services do you actively utilize?î And this time I will include ì0î as an option."

Interesting observation from Marc - "the idea of SNS and the allure of SNS is still hot and; the fulfillment of them - once you're there - is not". 

Meanwhile, Judith has set up her second short survey in the series - the question this time is "How many social networking services do you actively utilize?'.  

This would probably add complexity to the survey and analyses tools, still we probably need a scale of sorts to obtain better answers - once a day/once a week/once a month/once a quarter/twice a year/once a year or less often, with frequency distribution .......... or some such thing. 

I feel there can be a great story here!

3:25:43 PM    comment []  trackback []

"Masters of Design.

All articles from this month's fantastic issue of FastCompany are now online. The feature article, Masters of Design, looks at how and why design matters." [elearningpost]

Read too Maish's take on 'How to use weblogs to create engaging learning experiences' where he outlines a design method that incorporates three attributes of weblogs -  1) personal point of view, 2) chronological nature and 3) byte-sized posts.  He concludes by saying :

"In conclusion, I would like to stress that the informal and engaging attributes of the weblog format can be used even in the light of tightly scheduled and highly focused training situations. The simple alternatives outlined in this paper can liberate us from the tyranny of product-oriented delivery and help us build continuous, engaging and memorable learning experiences"

1:34:53 PM    comment []  trackback []

Judith asked me the other day whether i had seen Thomas L. Friedman's documentary film - 'The Other Side of Outsourcing - Who Really Wins' on Discovery Channel.  I missed it unfortunately - not sure whether we have the same feed here in India as the US - still am looking out for a re-run.  Anyone knows when its next on air in India ?

Couldn't wait to view the documentary - so i went off to Google and Feedster to search for write-ups on it.  Feedster returned 0 feeds but Google came good.  I discovered the New York Times has a very nice collection of 10 Op-Ed columns by Thomas L. Friedman on this story, with video excerpts.  Links to the Op-Ed columns :

Making India Shine (May 20, 2004)
India needs a political reform revolution to go with its economic one.

Losing Our Edge? (April 22, 2004)
Anyone who thinks that all the Indian and Chinese techies are doing is answering call-center phones or solving tech problems for Dell customers is sadly mistaken.

Software of Democracy (March 21, 2004)
While India has the hardware of democracy ó free elections ó it still lacks a lot of the software ódecent, responsive, transparent local government.

Origin of Species (March 14, 2004)
There are two basic responses to globalization: Infosys and Al Qaeda.

The Great Indian Dream (March 11, 2004)
Five-hundred-fifty-five million Indians under the age of 25 want it. And it's a lot like the American version.

The Secret of Our Sauce (March 7, 2004)
Our competitors know America's edge: institutions that nurture innovation.

Small and Smaller (March 4, 2004)
The third era of globalization is shrinking the world from size small to a size tiny.

30 Little Turtles (Feb. 29, 2004)
When we hand over low-wage, low-prestige jobs to India or Pakistan, we make a safer world for our own 20-year-olds.

What Goes Around . . . (Feb. 26, 2004)
Indian companies aren't just taking American jobs, they're also making them.

Meet the Zippies (Feb. 22, 2004)
The impact of outsourcing jobs to zippies, white-collar workers in India, is unpredictable. Managing this phenomenon requires a public policy response.

Judith shared some of her views on it with me - she felt learned she had learned many interesting tidbits like 555M or 54% of india's population is under 25 yrs of age, but only 3 or those 555M are benefiting with jobs from the outsourcing boom.  And that it put a few 'faces' on india; humanised them as the people interviewed were lovely, articulate, friendly, charming.  She also came away with the feeling that youth in India wants the same things as youth in the US.  

I will be soon blogging  about an interesting seminar i attended on youth trends and share some findings of a recent study i conducted, with permission from my client ofcourse :) - that showed pretty much the same thing !

1:04:11 PM    comment []  trackback []

Was chatting with a friend who knows i'm a qualitative researcher, and was surprised to find that i had a background in sociology - when i told her i studied it through my post graduation she said i'm a sociologist !

Now that makes me wonder about 'labels', as i get down to re-writing my CV (something i haven't done in 15 years)  .... I have a Masters degree in Sociology, and studied the subject for 7 years. Then, i also studied Psychology and Anthropology for 3 years each.   I've read Kant and Durkheim, Marx, Weber and Simmel, Freud and Jung, Cooley and Meade, and Malinowski.  And am particularly interested in Durkheim's thoughts on religion and suicide, Marx's dialectic materialism, Weber's ideal types, and areas covering phenomenology, epistemology and conflict theory - does that make me a Sociologist ? 

I've applied a lot of these learnings as a qualitative researcher in observing human behaviour, culture, institutions and society. Its made me people centric, situation aware, sensitive to storytelling and insights driven.  And more recently in my explorations on the "social" face and aspects of technology, evident at this blog. 

Another angle - i have no formal MBA in marketing - but i've picked up concepts and the 'jargon' that B schools equip their graduates with, in 15 years of experience conducting projects related to products, services and brands for organisations.

I am so confused.  I hate labels - still need one for my CV.  Maybe, saying 'qualitative researcher' is easier? 

Of course, the CV would provide a sense of who i am and what my company is - a firm specialising in qualitative research in India - types of projects and types of outcomes -a list of clients and companies both Indian and International  - a summary of positions prior to my current status, with key achievements, finally schooling and affiliations as accreditation.

I'll probably keep the Sociologist in me for an 'about me' page at this blog :)

Any thoughts ?

12:09:28 PM    comment []  trackback []