Last Wednesday, Google announced the launch of Sidewiki, the latest addition to the Google Toolbar... and potential anxiety instigator for brand managers everywhere. Google describes Sidewiki optimistically, saying:
"Help and learn from others as you browse the web."
"Contribute helpful information to any web page."
"What if you could learn from others who have visited a page before you?"
Simply put, Sidewiki allows you to comment on or annotate any website. Continuing its mission to make information relevant and readily available, Google has tossed another knowledge management tool into the ring. As we already do with Twitter, Facebook or Get Satisfaction, we can learn from the experiences of others and throw up flags and gold stars to help each other out (an optimist's view). Seth Godin became the first case study for Sidewiki with his "Squidoo/Brand Jacking" scandal last week (a bit on that here). Unable to comment on Seth's blog or the Squidoo page about 'Brand Pages', readers looked to Sidewiki to collect their frustrations.
This tool bares some considerable power and issues to consider. Sidewiki represents another avenue to be monitored and engaged... or not... depending on your strategy. Whether you participate or not, it is another cog in the social branding process. Users of Google Toolbar and Chrome will see comments and annotation right next to your web page, whether you like it or not. That's where the difference lies. Even though comments will be displayed right next to their web page, publishers don't control the feedback platform. It can't be turned off or moderated. Co-creation of content is the oft sited holy grail of brand/consumer relationships. In this case, Google is facilitating the co-creation of your brand on their turf and plastering it right next to yours.
Time for some perspective: not much is new here. There are no shortage of tools that host and aggregate annotation and feedback. In that regard, Sidewiki is just another tool on the list. The importance and principles of listening, learning and engaging to create good relationships remain. Sidewiki should provoke you to again consider: how do you want to participate in the creation of content that contributes to how you are defined?
As a user, my biggest concerns using any feedback platform are realibility, relevance and civility. Google is touting an algorithm for Sidewiki that will present comments in order of their quality and utility rather than order of submission. Beyond the relevance of your comment, it also considers feedback from other users, previous entries you've made and a few other unnamed 'signals' (more on that here).
In what seems to be an attempt to reconcile the issue of where the content resides, Sidewiki offers an API allowing developers to work with its content. I'm presuming we'll see the API used to replicate the functionality of Wordpress plugins that aggregate Twitter commentary on blog posts in the near future.
I'm looking forward to seeing the evolution of Sidewiki and the use of its API. As always, listening and learning will pave the way to success.
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