Joseph Cothrel Interview Online Community Report
Joseph Cothrel is the Former VP of Research at Participate Systems which is an online community services and software provider. Joseph's interview really appealed to me as it hit on a few things that I hold near and dear.
Social Software: Especially lately, I've been debating in my mind if my current profession and background as an online community manager could be labeled as work in "social software". Based on the quote below- I agree that I do work in Social Software.
If you think of communities as collections of people that exist out there in the world (or would like to), and online communities as ways those communities come together and communicate, all this stuff fits together.
Communities of Practice and Technology: As I've learned more about Communities of Practice (CoPs) inthe past year, it does seem that the movement is much more focused on the process and knowledge management theories as opposed to technology. It leaves me feeling like the work around CoPs is very academic- while I like to focus on the real application of usable technology- not just theory.
It's great to see Joseph mention Web Crossing a couple of times. I think Web Crossing is doing an awesome job of developing customizable technology that offers a full suite of Social Software for a reasonable price.