Object Centered Sociality

I was talking to Simon at Big Picture yesterday about Object Centered Sociality which is a horrible term but a great concept.  I first came across the idea at last year's Reboot in a fantastic presentation made by Jyri Zengestrom.  The basic idea is that lots of people in a room, or online, need something to talk about, otherwise they just mingle around, get bored and shoot off.  But once some simple guidelines have been made people are good at picking up the reins.  Unforgettably, Jyri made the point by blowing up a beach ball and throwing it into the quiet audience and, of course, we all started popping it between ourselves...

..., making jokes and inventing unwritten rules.    The relevance for marketeers is that a lot of online communities fail because that 'object' is either missing, unsuitable or uninteresting.  Here's Jyri's excellent essay about it all.  But it's still a horrible term so we need a new name. I've found myself talking about online toys which people can fiddle with, play around and chat about.  Hugh is going for Ooze but I think that's a bit greasy.  Suggestions anyone?

UPDATE: Simon picks up an Adage article that suggests Branded Utility - I quite like this, says what it is.

Comments

[Simon Andrews]

I've read a good article on this area this morning and posted on it - could the name be branded utility?
http://adage.com/columns/article.php?article_id=111124
http://simonandrews.typepad.com/big_picture/2006/08/branded_utility.html

[Mike Butcher]

Having met Jyri earlier this year I'd say he's currently working on how to cram Ooze into the Nokia Internet tablet...