I was in Delhi yesterday, meeting clients.  Was telling them about how social software tools can engender community. On the flight back i thought to myself that it might be useful to really list down all that such tools can do in for an organisation.  So i used some conventional marketing frameworks to table my thoughts.  These are very initial - 'kachcha' (raw, unfinished) as we say colloquially, and hopefully a starting point for more. 

I thought it may be useful to look at this whole area as a new paradigm for better / more effective / more cutting edge communication thru better networking – I feel that this (a new paradigm for communication in the networked age) could be a huge reason why / benefit area that a company may consider these enabling tools. Much is being written about how communication is changing in the new networked world – there are new generation cultures of use, youth are adopting new and more effective ways of communication, there's very good work being done in the area of collective intelligence and collaborative communities.

These tables are really a first attempt at qualifying this new paradigm of communication that embodies the following qualities intrinsically - collaborative, two-way, opening new windows and doors, trusted, harnessing collective intelligence.

Today an employee and an organisation communicates at many levels :

• internal – between employees/depts./branches/countries – this is at two levels – one a more HR kind of function where usually the ‘policy’ and employee well-being issues are communicated in a top-down, or need-based manner – a one-way street
• external - with customers – all touch points - whether mass media - print, audio-visual, retail, direct marketing and sales - and through CRM programs
• with various networks and forums – marketing, HR, advertising, IT etc

The two tables here cover the first area - of internal communication.

Random thoughts before i post this :

- i feel RSS feeds and Newsreaders will have a huge role to play in this enterprise

- blogs/wikis are the tools and cannot be the selling platform - will have to look for a term to position this new paradigm of communication

More on external communications later.