Why you should care about Sidewiki
On September 23rd, Google released Sidewiki – a plug-in available for the Google toolbar in Internet Explorer 6 or Firefox 2 and higher. It creates a sidebar, contained within your browser window, next to the page content where any Google user can make comments about that page. Google describes Sidewiki as a tool to “contribute helpful information to any web page.”
The idea is to have one easy place to gather information, opinions and background for any site on the Internet, and deliver it to you while you are on that site, without ever having to leave to go to another forum or blog. Unfortunately for site owners and brand managers alike, there is no ability to control what is posted or where it will rank in order. Google has developed an algorithm to help determine which comments are more “relevant” and moves them to the top of the feed. How this is calculated we will probably never know.
Although this has failed in the past (see: Third Voice and Mosaic 1.2’s group annotation function), three things make this a more likely success:
1- The existing server capabilities are far superior than they were in the past.
2- This is a child of Google, so automatically it’s cool, and legitimate.
3 – It is very easy to share via existing social networks. When you expand the comment to read the entire post, the “Share” link at the bottom allows readers to share through Facebook, Twitter, Email or Link. You can also rate it “yes” or “no” if you found the information useful.
To post, you must have a Google account, which can be created for free with any name. A user has the option to comment on the page overall, or highlight text and comment specifically on that text. As you hover over their comment, the area that they are commenting specifically on will be highlighted in yellow on the page.
As a company owner or manager, monitoring these comments is important to creating a better customer experience. Unfortunately, if you take proactive steps and respond to the negative post, there is no way to link your answer directly with their complaint. It will display just like any other comments. In the case of spam or inappropriate content, there is a link to “Report Abuse” next to their comment.
You can block Sidewiki from your page, but this could easily create the impression that you don’t want other people to read what your customers have to say. Just like with independent blogs and forums, the information exists out there. What’s scarier to companies about this is that it’s shown in conjunction with your website. As Sidewiki is in its infancy, there is no reason to panic yet. Download the plug-in for your browser and watch if anyone posts. Better yet, post some positive comments or behind the scenes information yourself. Sidewiki has the potential to become a very powerful tool – so for now, monitor it and watch for it to take off.
Tags: comments, google, internet, wiki