Joshua-Michéle Ross

Josh has spent over 15 years consulting on digital business strategy and is currently Director of Digital Strategy, Europe with Fleishman Hillard, a global communications firm. His focus over the last 6 years has been on applying Web 2.0 principles to deliver competitive advantage (from new business model development to customer engagement and communication strategies). Mr. Ross has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University and has spoken at conferences related to technology and digital strategy around the world. Key clients include Philips, Nokia, Best Buy, Autodesk, and Polycom. Joshua holds a degree with honors in Chinese Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Social media’s 2.0 moment: Responsiveness beats planning

The social web is pressuring organizations to accelerate all forms of communications.

In 2004, O’Reilly Media delivered a counter-cultural (at the time) message: The dot-com bubble had burst, but the web was here to stay as an economic and social force. The meme they coined was Web 2.0, and their manifesto was captured in a seminal blog post by Tim O’Reilly. Web 2.0 was not meant to indicate a version number, but to point out the deep, persistent patterns of the web that were rewiring business and society.

I led the consulting practice at O’Reilly Media after we coined the term Web 2.0, and I think we now find ourselves at a similar (though softer) inflection point. There are a lot of valid questions regarding the business models in social: Is Facebook not a scalable vehicle for advertising and thus overvalued? Is Groupon bad for merchants and thus doomed to fail? Was social gaming (and Zynga) overhyped?

Taking a cue from Web 2.0, I believe we need to look beyond specific applications of social media — even, God forbid, specific platforms like Facebook — in order to sort out the underlying design patterns that will endure and continue to disrupt marketing and communications.

So what are those design patterns? Here are four: Read more…

The blurring line between speech and text

We all say things we regret, and now we all write things we regret.

Recent social media gaffes show that our definitions and thresholds for speech and text must evolve. A third category has emerged: Internet-based updates that marry the ephemeral nature of speech and the archival permanance of text.

Why speed matters

"Faster is better" applies almost everywhere, not just in the tech domain.

We live in an ever-accelerating world and the competitive terms of business are built upon achieving speed for many reasons. Here's a look at how speed shapes a variety of domains and experiences.

Democratic technology and unintended consequences

As the Egyptian protests show, technologies that democratize communications can also centralize control.

As the Egyptian government throttles information flow and citizens fight to maintain access to communications, we are seeing the contours of a struggle that will shape political and policy changes.

The economics of gaining attention

Power lies with those who can decipher attention algorithms.

As our social, economic and political lives are increasingly mediated through a few consolidated technologies such as Facebook and Google, software exerts a profound influence on the way we engage with one another.

Architecture is Destiny: A Tale of Two Cities and Lessons for the Social Business

About three years ago my wife and I made the rash (and wise) decision to buy a 17th century home in Southwestern France . Puy L’Eveque is a 13th century medieval town situated on a hill overlooking the Lot River. Its narrow streets all lead upward to the summit – where the Mairie (the mayor’s office) and the church occupy…

Roger Magoulas on Big Data

From Google to Walmart, managing vast information flows is becoming central to how you run an effective business. Beyond the technical developments that are allowing for new possibilities in managing Big Data there are also new roles emerging within companies large and small; data scientists, visualization specialists etc. In this second of two videos Roger discusses some exemplars in the emerging field of Big Data.

Understanding Social Business – Webcast

The term, “Social Business” has been gaining currency over the past year among influential thinkers such as Stowe Boyd, Peter Kim, Jeff Dachis and Jeremiah Owyang. I am excited to announce that I will be moderating an O’Reilly panel discussion with this group on January 14 to discuss Social Business and how it can impact strategy, design, technology and customer experience. I would love to hear about any questions you would like to see addressed during this upcoming webcast.

Airline Security and Proportional Response

I am flying to London this coming week on business. I have no idea if I will be able to use my laptop, emerge from my seat during the last hour of flight or be required to wear my underwear inside-out during the security check-in. Do I believe that any of these measures will contribute to passenger safety? No. After the recent foiled airline bomb incident one thing seems clear; we are constantly retrofitting our security measures to defend ourselves against the last attack. Often these measures seem like what Bruce Schneier in a great CNN article calls Security Theater.

Video: Roger Magoulas on The Next Device

Future at Work Series: Pico Projectors and OLED Screens

I recently sat down with Roger Magoulas, Director of Research at O'Reilly to talk about what he is paying attention to these days. I thought we would do a single, quick segment for Radar. I was mistaken. I have broken out the interview into several parts and will release them weekly… Call it Wednesdays with Roger. This episode touches on new devices that will shape how we work and get things done in the future including Pico projectors and OLED screens.