DISQUS

Ari Herzog · 12 months ago

I agree with your overall concept that the CTO should not be someone limited to the web sphere, but (and this is a BIG BUT), the selected person must be someone who understands the web. And I don't mean a typical CEO who equates social media with Facebook. If the CTO is providing direction, the CTO must be able to listen to the population - taxpayers, voters, citizens - and be able to engage with the population through the web and other means. How many CEOs routinely share information about their products vs merely pushing it out?

Yes, we need to build out hardware and software innovation, but by listening to what the population is saying, the best strategies will be implemented. If the innovators are not venturing out of their cubicles to hear what end users want, what's the point in designing anything?

jedsundwall · 12 months ago

I have yet to meet a CTO trained in caring about people and their needs—that's for the product team to worry about. Because of that, I don't envision a social media guru being a good fit for the big job. That said, Ari's right on that whoever wins the prize (punishment?) needs to really understand the web, which for most constituents is the social web. Terms like web 2.0 and social media are quickly becoming redundant.

So yes, it's important that the CTO understand this, but it's not going to be his or her job to deal with it. That's what community managers are for!