Two weeks ago I realized I was using the wrong hashtag to follow the Twitter conversation at SocialDevCamp, thus completely missing out on the backchannel conversation.

(If I haven’t lost you yet just hold on, hopefully I’ll explain what I mean in non-tech terms.)

What is metadata? In my admittingly loose use of the term, metadata is data about data that provides context and background information about the original data.

Metadata plays a natural role in conversations (online and offline) where there is a shared understanding, common experiences, interests or knowledge, and all parties are aware that each has that background, that context. We don’t cite metadata, we know that other people understand, and when it is not, we ask questions, give additional information, explain what we mean.

Public “atomized conversations” between people without that explicit knowledge of shared experiences lack that natural context.

Metadata works in these types of conversations by providing a structured way to provide that context and background info by using formal data structures and standards or more informal user-defined tags, links or notes. Providing metadata allows people to understand you better. [1]

Not sure if someone understand what you’re talking about? Link to a definition or an explanation. Not sure if someone knows where you’re coming from? Send them to your resume or your blog so they can understand your background and interests.

Want to follow what is being said online about you or your company? Search the web using search terms. Search blogs by categories and tags.

Want to follow and participate real-time in the online conversation about an event in Twitter? Use and follow hashtags to get involved with the backchannel. [2]

Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding context and metadata to twitter posts (”tweets” in Twitter parlance). Hashtags solve a specific user problem by aggregating distributed conversations across Twitter. Follow a specific topic or event by following keywords and using the applicable, understood hashtag, and you’ll pick up what people are saying without having to know the other people beforehand.

Essentially, in current use hashtags create an adhoc, freewheeling, temporary social network around an event by combining the conversation and not the people.

But it’s an incomplete solution and ultimately could degrade the conversation. Why? Because using inline metadata like hashtags increases interaction costs, and interaction costs “kill Net-centered social connections dead”.

What’s another way to address this? Is there an opportunity to create sponsored, temporary networks using social communication tools to aggregate the conversation and provide a formal, searchable, store of the real-time communications and interactions around the event?

Would businesses pay for this? Would event managers pay for this? (To create an easy way to facilitate and promote the backchannel conversation at an event) Would people pay for this, for the opportunity to provide commentary? (Unlikely). It’s not outlandish to suggest that businesses can be built based on enabling conversations, and I know there are multiple companies working on facilitating the backchannel.

But I’m not just talking about enabling conversations. I’m not suggesting in-line advertising stitched into the conversations. I’m not suggesting advertising stitched into content. I’m talking about giving businesses and events the opportunity to increase the engagement with their business or event, build awareness, market and promote their capabilities. I’m talking about temporary networks where people can create temporary tight networks to find people they want to connect with temporarily, and perhaps find people they want to stay connected to long term.

How could this be done? Thoughts?

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[1] I’m going to butcher any description of the Semantic web, so start with this if you’re interested in the basics.
[2] Sometimes the backchannel can be more interesting than the the actual event.