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Using Social Networking Tools to Write a Book

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the until-you-reach-critical-mass-then-you-become-stupid dept.

WikiTiki writes "Safari Books Online has a new interview with Barry Libert, one of the authors of 'We are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business.' Barry and his coauthors decided to create a wiki and invite the community to help build this book which aims to give advice on using social networking tools like blogs and wikis to businesses. Barry has some interesting comments about both the challenges and payoffs in using social networking tools to create a book about social networking tools."

2 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Mass Authoring is a steaming pile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I beg to differ, Wikitravel.org is doing pretty fine without any Google ads and has loads of well-written guides for locations around the world. In fact, during my last summer's round trip around Europe, I found it to be more accurate and up-to-date in many listings than the few years old travel guide I had with me. I'm now a semi-frequent contributor to the site myself and definitely see a future for sites like Wikitravel which will always feature fresher content than their printed "competitors".

  2. Naked Came The Stranger, etc. by Scarbo27 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Does no one remember the 1969 novel "Naked Came The Stranger?" This was an early attempt of what it looks like Barry is trying to do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Came_the_Stranger A similar conceit was seen in the piano/orchestra pieces "The Yellow River Concerto," composed by a Maoist collective of Chinese composers. I don't want to spoil it for you, but it sucked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River_Concerto As far as I can tell the only masterpiece ever created by a committee is The King James Bible.