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The Web 2.0 olympics

I don't usually compare Web 2.0 to sports...but then I'm sort of borrowing this comparison from Mary Abraham over at Above and Beyond KM who has written an post about overcoming the hurdles of Web 2.0

In it she mentions a recent article* by Ruth Ward of Allen & Overy (leaders in terms of Web 2.0 adoption within Law Firms) and how they have overcome some of the challenges to Web 2.0 adoption.

So what are the hurdles, well...

"Social tools and networks can bring real business value, especially in a professional-services setting. But many partners and practices seem to struggle to get beyond their press-led perceptions of Facebook and Wikipedia, and their natural scepticism of blogging."

So true...I remember when we first looked at blogs someone described them as being "for chat" IT Departments can also be a stumbling block, because they either don't understand the benefits of using these tools or again they associate Social Media or Web 2.0 with websites like Facebook and Wikipedia, not that there is anything wrong with either of those websites. Fee-earners are also natually sceptical and cynical about any new or innovative product so encouraging them to use something they might associate as being from the same mould as Facebook or Wikipedia can be a difficult task. But as Mary suggests there have been some excellent examples of Law Firms developing these tools to add value and the influence and use of these tools can only increase.

*You will need a subscription to Managing Partner magazine in order to read this article.

Full post as published by LI Issues on October 01, 2008 (boomark / email).