Book Review - Groundswell

groundswell tool, originally uploaded by elizabethdunn.

I just finished Groundswell, originally recommended to me by Sue Hanley. At first, it seems targeted to the upper management of the large company with well-known products, but the concepts and case studies about social media are valuable reading for anyone concerned about perception of their brand, whether you're an employee at a small company or an individual building your own brand.

The most useful sections for me were:
- Truly illustrative real-world stories and case studies
- Detailed ROI calculations for different social media tools such as an executive blog or a community forum
- The Social Technographics categories and profiles (where "social technographics" refers to the demographics of those participating in groundswell activities) - see the Profile Tool section at http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell
- Tips on listening to the groundswell
- Discussion of the all-important question for the company and the individual - if you start getting people's attention in the groundswell, what will you do once you have that attention?
- How to recognize Groundswell approach-avoidance syndrome in yourself or your colleagues
- An entire chapter on the groundswell inside the enterprise

I have one issue with the book's conclusion, which paints a glowing near-future world where R&D and turnaround time are much faster for companies who are listening to the groundswell and responding quickly. This may be good for a company's competitive edge, but what happens when everyone's product lifecycle speeds up? How will the consumer keep up with all the new products and updates to those products? Shortening time-to-market also shortens time-to-obsolescence, and that's going to increase waste in a society that is currently emphasizing going green. Authors Li and Bernoff promise, "Product cycles will speed up." In the bigger picture, we might need to slow down.