Mimickr 2.0?

Well, it hasn’t been exactly quick, but IBM Lotus has just released Lotus Connections, that aims to mimic the success wrought by social networking sites and web 2.0 based project management tools.

At first glance the new Lotus Connections software seems to be an assortment of  of web 2.0 imitations. Here’s the rundown:

The IBM package includes five applications: profiles, where employees post information about their expertise and interests; communities, which are formed and managed by people with common interests; activities, which are used to manage group projects; bookmarks, where people share documents and Web sites with others; and blogs, where people post ongoing commentaries – Source: Business Week review

A smattering of Del.ic.ious, MySpace, WordPress, Facebook, and Basecamp; Lotus Connections has left no web 2.0 success unturned in the package’s new avatar, but will it be successful is the million $ question, asked by Stowe Boyd.

Me vs. Us

Stowe Boyd wrote a well-written critique on 90s “corporate theory of groups” vs. the current “centrality of me” concept espoused by Facebook and the likes. Here’s his take:

I could go on, but these principal points are enough for now. So, in the classical enterprise collaboration model people are, first and foremost, members of groups, and these groups define people: what their rights are, what their purpose and goals are, and so on.

But in the social, me-first model (contrasting it with group-first models) people’s relationships are potentially asymmetric: for example, I may be on your buddy list, but you aren’t on mine. And in the me-first model, I possess what I make and I opt to share it with specific individuals (or not).

Some may agree, but some don’t.

Where do you stand on the spectrum?