Remember books? Yeah, those things that are like really long blogs, made up of a massive string of tweets, which we used to call ‘sentences’. You can download them onto an ereader or, if you’re really old-school, buy them all wrapped up in paper like a sweet-smelling present from the past.
Most of us are now doing the former; last year, Amazon’s sales of ebooks outstripped those of print books for the first time. But the problem with ebooks is they’re difficult to share, and sharing is surely the moral imperative of our time. What’s more, I am a massive personal advocate of the print book as the ultimate in innovative technology (I’ll be talking more about that at an upcoming event on ‘Writing The Future’ with The Royal Society and the Arthur C Clarke Award – stay tuned).
So here at 1000heads London HQ I oversee a modest library from which any ‘Head (or trustworthy friend) can borrow. Our selections are crowdsourced internally, with an ongoing budget for purchasing any decent suggestion.
In the spirit of sharing, here are some of our favourite and most-thumbed choices for word of mouth insight and inspiration.
1. The Anatomy of Buzz by Emmanuel Rosen – One of the earliest and still one of the best, with concrete case studies galore.
2. Connected: The surprising power of our social networks by Christakis and Fowler – A classic science-heavy primer on the power of networks.
3. The Face to Face Book by Ed Keller and Brad Fay – Offline conversation rules OK in last year’s book by US WOM researchers Keller Fay.
4. Groundswell by Josh Bernoff – How grassroots movements grow wings.
5. Herd by Mark Earls – The sociology of mass behaviour; Earls delivered an excellent presentation at 1000heads Sydney.
6. Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith – A rallying call for how to turn your staff into advocates. I reviewed this at length when it was published.
7. Anatomy of A Trend by Henrik Vejlgaard – A provocative and fresh look at how and why trends spread.
8. The Hyper-Social Organisation by Francois Gossieaux and Ed Moran – A great all-rounder for those looking to understand social business.
9. Open Leadership by Charlene Li – How to flourish as a leader in a bewildering new landscape.
10. Authenticity: What Consumers Want by Jospeh Pine and James Gilmore – Understanding authenticity is key to social success; these guys know how to nail it better than anyone.
11. The Long Tail by Chris Anderson – A must-read for anyone wanting to understand the social media economy.
12. Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernowitz – A clear and practical guide for how to turn theory into reality.
13. Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky – Because innovation is only innovation if it happens, and works.
14. The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg – The 1989 classic on the public spaces where people meet, talk and share.
15. Diffusion of Innovations by Everett M Rogers – Rather dense but, first published in 1962, this is the basis for ‘influencer’ theory.
16. Information is Beautiful by David McCandless – Conversation requires listening. Listening online requires loving data. This will make you love data.
17. The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin – Our latest acquisition on social and individual innovation, which was reviewed last month by Meg.
18. The OED – Because correct spelling, punctuation and grammar are more precious than ever. (Yes, I’m sure you can spot numerous examples where I’ve smashed them to pieces. Still.)
Of course, this is not our full library, just a few edited highlights. If you’d like some more recommendations, on everything from design to data, traditional advertising to neuroscience, just let us know. Also, do add your own top WOM book recommendations in the comments below – or send us a tip on Twitter.