Personal Insights
What do you have to say? Youtube, GitHub, Twitter, Linkedin…
So for a long time I’ve wondered where have people gone? Not really a number count. Not really activity. It’s just a feeling. A feeling that where is that “magic” gone to? Is it youtube, github, linkedin??? Where has that passion gone?
You, yes, you reading this… You must have something to say. I’m 100% sure of it. It may be Michelle you are very wrong. (And I hope you add why I’m wrong) Or you are right – the community is awesome, let’s make it better.
So I’ve read adopt a newbie, It’s a good read. I’ve received a lot of help by reading comments on blogs. SAP Web IDE is the way to go. I received the answer from two sources, testing your SAPUI5 application was one of them. I received a good response from a question I tried to answer but could only point the person in a direction and then brain storm with them. Coffee corner generates a lot of fun things like what do you drink coffee or tea. So where did it go? It’s still here. It never left. You just have to dig a little bit. People are still responding, interacting, and are happy to hear other opinions.
The problem is there is less out there in a bigger environment. There used to be a lot more in a much smaller environment SDN. We were helping, moving forward and making a difference. Hey – that sounds a lot like my previous paragraph.
The problem is old vs. new. Right? I may not care about Fiori if my company doesn’t use it. But if since I have just started, I’m really loving the help. Wait – there are still blogs on good ‘ole ABAP, testing ABAP, ABAP objects. So that magic is still here.
Youtube, Github, Twitter Linkedin can and in some cases do link back to here.
Magic – that’s what I’ve heard it called. So do you know what a mentor is? Gosh, I hope so. Those are people whose job description is nothing more than to help. Oh yes, I know they do a lot more. But that is magic too – right? You don’t have to pay for their help they are just here.
Wait! You are thinking. I’m not a mentor. Why should I help? Why not? Knowledge is power, lets spread it around. IF you think “I’m not sure I know how to answer that question”. See above neither am I at times. OK more times than not, I can’t give a complete answer. If you find something that will save you some time while reading, asking questions, etc. Then why not use a fraction of the time you saved to add to the community?
So I submit to you. YOU are the community. You would not be here if the magic was gone. I think it’s just well hidden. And you need to look for it.
Enjoy and look for those unicorns they are here. And everyone who is at Teched. I’m sure there are a lot of jealous people. When you get a chance – blog about what’s going on. We’ve got tweets, replays, and more out there.… We just have to look.
And now – now I’m off my soapbox. It’s time for you to tell me I’m crazy and WHY. Or tell me you agree with me somewhat and WHY. That why is so important. Yes, the platform isn’t great. But that isn’t really a why. Is the magic still here? The magic where someone you don’t even know helps you out. And that help is FREE.
Hey Michelle,
I know how it's like to write a nice blog and then getting no reaction at all - so I'll gladly be the first one to comment here.
I have gone nowhere, I'm still here at SAP Community - it think for me it's a good platform for blogging, and I still do so from time to time.
And in parallel - as you know (but others don't) - I'm exploring other, decentralizes forms of communication, namely mastodon. So nice of you to join me there!
Unfortunately so far, I haven't found a SAP-centered (themed) Instance, which would be really nice to have. It would be great to have such a thing. And SAP could easily start on!
I'd switch over to it immediately.
As stated elsewhere, I think this would complement - not at all replace - SAP Community.
Jerry Janda have you - either as SAP Community, or as yourself - looked into mastodon a little?
Do you see any chance of SAP jumping on?
best
Joachim
Well, I'm a huge fan of "Leviathan," but I find the rest of their discography rather hit or miss.
Oh, that's not what you meant at all, is it?
I haven't looked into it, but then again, I'm more of a peripheral Community guy these days. (With the reorg, I was moved into a support role...not part of the Community team itself.) So I may not be the best guy to ask. I'll pass along though.
--Jerry
Mastodon is an interesting prospect. Not because it’s new, there was a very well known decentralised Mastodon/Twitter like infrastructure that was born around the same time as [the centralised] Twitter platform was born – that was identi.ca, based on the microblogging platform laconi.ca. I had an account and was active in identi.ca (I had my own node) and things were great, but then Twitter started growing, and became the dominant microcomms platform. Not because it was the better one (from an open sense or from a technology sense) but it’s where people gravitated, for whatever reason. And people gravity beats technology gravity every time.
So while i’ve set up a user on Mastodon, the conversations here and on Twitter are what keeps me going. If conversations start on Mastodon, then I will take a look.
Both now as an SAP employee (which I am now) but even before I was an SAP employee, my answer to your question is going to be “it depends”. I don’t think that we should look to SAP to jump onto Mastodon, as you say. It’s up to the community, up to us, up to where the gravity of people are located.
Thanks Michelle for an enjoyable post - your posts always read as though you're speaking to me directly, which is great. I wanted to pick out one point that you made, and amplify it a little:
"Wait! You are thinking. I’m not a mentor. Why should I help? Why not?"
Exactly. I think it's important to remember that folks become recognised as mentors because of the help and commitment they have given, not the other way round, i.e. not "first become a mentor then think about helping".
These names for roles in the community don't seem to do much good.
One of the most interesting aspects of my social sabbatical in Auckland, New Zealand this year had been the exposure to Maori culture.
There is a concept called 'ako' that describes the relationship between teacher and students and how the roles can flip fluidly. The teacher is also learning from the student.
This idea, I believe, must resonate with everyone that ever had to teach someone else.
I don't have access to the headcount but I would hazard a guess and say that the people who actually used SDN before are using it after. Where the change, and you cover it in your post, is the participation level. It has definitely dropped when moving to the new platform.
I suspect that human nature had something to do with it. Generally, people don't like change. People were used to SDN, were comfortable with it, foibles and all. This new SDN is light years better and much more organized but now I have to learn something new.
This makes me wonder. I am a 5+ year vet of the SDN, but am I a mentor or a mentee?
If your like me you are both a mentor and a mentee. It's always fun to help where we can.
And for me like so many others - learning will never end. That's what's so cool about SAP it never stays the same. That's what is so cool here. It never stays the same.