Professional SharePoint® 2010 Development

Chapter 5. Collaboration and Social Computing

WHAT'S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• Details about the new social computing features available in SharePoint 2010

• Managing profiles using the User Profile Service Application

• Examples of how the object model and web services can be used to access social data

• My Site enhancements

• What's new in blog and wiki sites

The term "social computing" can be defined as the use of technology to allow people to connect with each other, usually online. Examples include blogs with responses, wikis, and social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. In addition, there are new rating applications, web applications, and social technologies being developed, allowing users to connect to and benefit from the strength and knowledge of a community.

Today, your business users are more socially aware, and social applications can be easily adopted. One of the reasons for the quick adoption of SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 was that people needed to connect as a group to collaborate efficiently. When the 2003 version of the product was released, users had fast PCs, quick Internet connections and the software tools needed to be productive as individuals. The next logical step was learning to use software and creating new applications, which facilitated being productive as groups and organizations instead of as individuals.

Microsoft has been experimenting with social technology since before the term "social computing" was adopted to ...