Recently, a debate has erupted on the Lucene (Open Source search library) mailing list about whether to make the next version of the library require Java 1.5 instead of Java 1.4. Predictably, opinions fall into two camps. I've done my best to summarize the arguments on both sides:

• Move forward: "Java 1.5 has been out for about two years and making the next version of Lucene require that release is a reasonable way to move forward. Backwards compatability can't be preserved forever, and there are some nifty features to use in the newer versions of Java."

• Backwards compatability: "There are still a ton of users on Java 1.4. Switching to 1.5 provides only incremental engineering advantages and could leave existing users in a lurch. It would be better to wait at least another year until even more users are on Java 1.5."

I've watched the passionate emails on both sides with some interest, as we went through similar discussions in the not-too-distant past. Our Jive Forums product has been locked to Java 1.4 for a long time because we have a lot of large, important customers that just can't upgrade their infrastructures very quickly. So, not much of a debate on which version of Java to use for that product, unfortunately. However, when we were going through the process of making Wildfire Open Source nearly two years ago, there was a choice -- use Java 1.5 and get all the cool stuff, or appeal to more existing users and work on more platforms by supporting 1.4? Back then, it was a pretty tough choice since Java 1.5 had just been released.

Progress at the expense of backwards compatability is obviously one of the core issues in software development, and I can't hope to fully address the problem in this blog entry. However, I can say that we were very happy that we picked 1.5 for Wildfire. Generics and features like the new concurrency package certainly helped our development process. But, there was something else about moving to the new platform that I wasn't expecting. If I had to distill it down to one word, using Java 1.5 simply felt "fresh". It got our engineers fired up and the community of users that developed around the project seemed only too happy to be using the latest and greatest. We also embraced a lot of other cutting edge technologies at the same time like XMPP. I truly believe that if we had gone down the "safer" path with 1.4, Wildfire just wouldn't have developed the same level of energy that it has today.

Maybe this is the path that all software products take as they "cross the chasm" -- start with what's new and risky (which appeals to all of us that love technology) and then gradually slow down into being more mainstream and then eventually obsolescence.  I guess we'll see what happens with Wildfire when Java 1.6 comes out later this year and we're faced with the same choice all over again. Will things be entirely different now that the Wildfire project is so much more mature?

Finally, what will the Lucene maintainers decide? We'll find out in the near future, but I cast my vote for the move to Java 1.5.

Great humor is grounded in profound truth. That's why Chris Rock's solution to gun control ("make each bullet cost $5,000 because if a bullet cost $5,000 there would be no innocent bystanders") is so funny. This same concept should be applied to online content. Too often people go spraying "content bullets" here and there. To use Mr. Rock's logic, the key to upgrading content in Enterprise online communities and within their real-time communication is to make the content environment more deliberate.

It's how you frame it

Paradigms make a big difference. Blogs, wikis and mass emails are analagous to broadcasting or publishing. People take extra thought and effort to craft that sort of content. Chat and Forums are typically more casual (1:1 or 1:few) gathering places. The first step in up-leveling community and EIM content starts with acknowledging that people expect them to be more relaxed. But that doesn't mean that content quality has to suffer.

1. Make Content Expensive

The more deliberate the "shot" the better the content. IM conversations would be pretty different if you knew your content was either monitored by your company (as EIM should be and emails already are) or that your real-time conversations would become part of a public-facing record. And if forums felt a bit more like publishing environments, members would put more emphasis on their effort. One dating site I know of has no fee until you want to contact someone, that way both the parties put value on the effort. There is literally currency to the content and you can bet it's deliberate.

<span style="font-weight: bold">2. Ask Simon Cowell</span>

You may have seen Dave's blog on predictive markets. Think American Idol. Those music producers have it easy. They know who is going to sell records way ahead of their investment because "America has voted." Well, if peer-to-peer content generation was made available to be voted on, to be valued, then contributors would spend a little more effort on their contribution and the best content would get the most exposure. We see this now in our customer's communities when they move discussions into published documents and then the community votes on the value of that content.

3. Brighten up the place

People create weak, negative content when they're grumpy. And they can get grumpy when it's hard to find content, hard to partipate, when the the UI takes weeks to decypher and the look and feel is painful. A best practice of call centers is to to smile before answering the phone, that way they have more pleasant experiences. So, make people feel good and they'll create good content.

In Wildfire2.6, we've introduced support for the Publish-Subscribe extension to XMPP (Jabber). A loose analogy is that it's like RSS on steroids, but for instant messaging. A slightly more technical take: it's a comprehensive system for publishing and consuming topic-based events.

Like RSS, pubsub offers a simple way to get notifications. But far beyond RSS, pubsub has rich publishing and permissions systems. As a more radical example than standard news syndication, a company could use pubsub to power a file sharing service; certain users would be allowed to publish files, while others could read them (with optional moderation). Users would be notified in real-time when files are added or modified, and could even filter notifications using keywords. Other IM twists to the pubsub protocol allow you to choose to only receive events when you're online, use your buddy list for permissions management, etc. The reason we're excited about pubsub is two-fold:

1. It's much more comprehensive than the existing mainstream event protocols like RSS and Atom, which means you can do much cooler stuff. Of course, RSS and Atom should be thought of as complementary rather than competing technologies since they're for a different medium.

2. If you believe like Jive and Google that an XMPP instant messaging client will be on every user's desktop, that means pubsub is a viable<span style="font-weight: bold"># platform</span># for building all sorts of services.

At this point, pubsub is just an interesting technology that remains to be proven. However, we'll be building some innovative services on top of it and I'm sure others will be too.

If you're interested in learning more about pubsub and how it can be applied, read our article on the topic.

One thing is for sure -- just because you launch an online community doesnt mean people will use it. Since community software has been around for a long time, most people think its a no-brainer. But nine times out of ten, people underestimate what it really takes to build something great -- be it internal or external. Much like e-commerce, companies think that its something you can just "turn on." Some even attempt to write their own software.

Whatever you decide, save yourself some pain and keep the following things in mind:

*1.     *Take the time to be smart

It takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks of planning on the front end of launching or re-launching an online community depending on your scope. Make sure you budget for it. Have an outline of what your plan should include. Set benchmarks -- who else is doing a good job? Why? Be sure to check out the landscape.

2.     Draft clear blueprints

Sounds simple, but like anything else, it takes focus and your team's alignment about what you're building and its business value. There is not always agreement on your target audience, why they care, and how you'll measure success. Be sure to identify your internal executors and their precise dependencies -- otherwise what should be last steps can stretch to miles. And be clear about what youll do with your communitys output and what technology is the best for your goals  switching technology later inevitably frustrates your members.

3.     Work to emulate "real life"

An online community has the same rules as a real-life community. Prospective and long-time members need to feel like it's built for them, and all the right ingredients are there. That means it should 1) resonate with the members, 2) be easy to connect to others and to helpful answers, 3) have a sense of member status, and 4) the interactions should create value. If it's not intuitive to do these things, people leave.

4. Reward people and content

Active community participants care deeply about their status in the community. Most companies greatly underestimate this and dont have a solid plan for how to reward members to motivate the right kind of contribution (and more people to contribute). If reward is not tightly tied to community-perceived value, then the system can be easily abused and the community can get upset. As well, make it easy for the community to create content, reward the content thats most valuable and have the power to expose that content to other members.

5.     Make it ok to not be ok

For a community to thrive, everyone should feel like they can speak up. If the content is too hot or too cold, people wont add value. No one wants to be flamed. No one wants to join something lifeless. You have to provide a place that members can be opinionated and honest. Be sure you think through what you will and wont allow so you can provide an environment that feels true for everyone. And if you plan to have a corporate voice within the community, make sure it's "of the community" and not perceived as heavy-handed.

6.     Easy does it

You knew this one would be on the list, didnt you? No one wants to learn how to participate, how to find answers or how to connect with the right people. These should be effortless and intuitive. Otherwise people give up or try other channels. While a lot has to do with software selection, a big part is how you stage the community and plan for growth. A short "how-to" can help, as long as it's simple and straightforward.

7.     Stock the shelves

Think of content like groceries. Theres a shelf life, a value, people have to find it and it needs to be well merchandised. Not to mention that when you start one from scratch the shelves need to be stocked when you cut the ribbon. So, seed high-value content in the beginning. Do what you can to make sure that content is easily recognized as from you or from other community members (or both). And make sure that youre working the produce long after opening day.

8.     Manage the store

Someone (emphasis on one) has to manage the store. They have to be in charge of the community. Make them accountable for being the companys ambassador to the community and being the voice of the community to the company. Like anything else, if theres not a clear leader things turn to mud.

9.     Fearlessly listen and respond

Early warning can make a big difference. The more your company listens and responds to your members, the more members will stick with you. Look for a system that can notify you (and others) even if you're not in the community. Empower your community manager -- they should have an internal audience so they can surface whats happening in the community and get the right people involved. The manager should be able to offer community members quick resolutions when they need help. Build in automatic escalation, so if a question goes unanswered, an internal resource will make sure it gets closed. Sending members some cool t-shirts or other perks always works, too.

10. Make it you

Lastly, your community should reflect who you are. Get your company involved. Make sure its exposed and promoted heavily. Engage your brand owners to help ensure that the way it looks and feels rings true to your community. Be sure to find something you can customize and then take the time to do it. Design it as an extension of who you are as a company -- your community members will repay you tenfold.

Earlier this week, I attended IBM Partnerworld.  The show was hosted at the beautiful Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas.  Both IBM DeveloperWorks and IBM Partnerworld divisions use our software, so we wanted to attend to show our support.  DeveloperWorks has implemented Jive Forums and PartnerWorld has implemented Spark FastPath (formerly Jive Live Assistant) product to allow partners to contact technical support for server implementations.

The ironic part of the show was that the network on the show floor kept losing connections, and even worse was the performance of the network in the hotel rooms.  Not sure why this happens at conferences. Maybe it's the thousands of attendees clogging the lines.

While the booth traffic was underwhelming (thanks to being blocked by a big map of the show floor), the people who stopped by understood the value of having a good internal community solution.  In addition, when I explained the value of Spark Fastpath and being able to route internal IM questions to the appropriate people, their faces immediately lit up and could see their thought process going on how their organization could use that type of functionality.

Most tradeshows give out bags and reams of paper, but not IBM.  They handed out free cellphones with Windows Mobile technology.  The phone came embedded with a web application allowing the attendee to view their customized schedule (via the web), provide feedback on sessions, and view all the possible activities at the show.  At the end of the show, attendees were able to keep their phone and just drop in a SIM card to use it as their normal cellphone. A paperless conference, how cool is that?

Scott Campbell, our VP of Sales, was at a community summit in the Bay last week, where Mark Finnern from SAP's Developer Network talked about some of their stats. According to Mark:  "Since rolling out Jive Forums with integrated point system the number of posts increased by 525% within 12 months. At the same time a 6X DECREASE in the medium time to first reply from 12 hours to below 30 minutes."

They've done a great job building a streamlined, connected community, and they've obviously got a pretty good starting point with that many users around the world....but the interesting thing to me (and a big part of why they've seen the participation levels they have) was the neck and neck race of the top 3 users. Normally we see one untouchable person at the top with a ludicrous amount of points. Having a tight race makes it much more interesting, and I'm sure provides a lot more motivation to stay on top. Creating that race is tough, but it's got to pay off in the long-term.