METAGroup analyst, Mike Gotta, writes — Social Computing: Getting Ahead of the Blog.

There are at least two paragraphs in this META analysis piece — on Weblogs and their potential integration into the fabric of an enterprise's content and collaboration layer — that read like potential anti-pitch, and/or benefits-pitch entries in the Social Software Weblog's Past 'Perfect Pitch' contest. [Perhaps, in addition to following up the 'Perfect Pitch' contest with a series of pitches submitted by the judging panelists, I should also follow up with an 'Anti Pitch' competition?]

First the 'anti-pitch':

Buoyed by media hype, popularity of Internet startups, and some interesting success stories, Weblogs (more commonly referred to as "blogs") are burgeoning across the Internet as a means to improve social conversation and networking. Strategists should assess business, organizational, and technological implications of "blogging" (and social computing in general) before chasing another tool under the allure of improved information/expertise sharing, collaboration, and community building.

Alright, it's not really that 'anti,' but it is cautionary.

Then the 'positive-pitch':

Blogs are a good example of how organizations can express themselves from the bottom up, making connections with peers that might not occur through other communication and information channels. Adopting and deploying blog technology require forethought of what employees might publish and what actions might be expected to ensue. Although this problem exists in other mediums (e.g., e-mail), conventions around blogs are inherently different depending on how they are used (e.g., personal observations vs. more formalized journals that are reviewed and edited prior to publication). This represents more opportunity (e.g., enabling peer expertise networks for knowledge transfer) than risk if expectations are properly set. 

I also blogged this analysis piece on my 'knowledge notes' weblog, as it speaks to the incorporation of social computing components — like weblogs — into an effective knowledge management strategy.

I believe that weblogs are an excellent vehicle for 'personal' knowledge networking and mapping especially in the area of technical support communications between multi-tiered engineers and agents. Thank goodness that the notion of scraping knowledge out of the brain cases of employees has become somewhat passe in the field of "knowledge management." This leaves room for more mindful sharing of personal knowledge, expertise, and techniques among enterprise employees — perhaps ala social computing tools?

During the 'Perfect Pitch' competition the judging panelists and I spoke of many things that I neglected to craft into the set-up for entrants in the creation of their pitches.

There is an enormous plethora of questions and concerns at the enterprise level regarding weblogs. Mike Gotta also covers many of these questions in this article. It's a great read for anyone contemplating the benefits, drawbacks, and questions that need to be asked when pondering enterprise weblogging, check it out.

While Feedstering "Mike Gotta," I also found a Ross Mayfield post on — Industry Analyst Weblogs — with a link to Mike Gotta's personal weblog, Perceptions, wherein Mike ponders presence, weblogs, social networking, and "continuous partial attention," among other things. Great to discover yet another pedestrian at the intersection of "knowledge management" and "social computing." (-:=