It only warrants three lines of the salesforce.com’s Spring ‘12 release notes, but I wonder if this is Chatter’s ‘killer app?’

This season sees the introduction of Chatter Influence, which shows who is at the forefront of internal collaboration with their Chatter contributions. It combines statistics on number of posts, comments and the ubiquitous ‘likes,’ to grade users on a Klout-style influencer scale.

The up-and-coming verbiage for this is gamification - and it’s the next huge trend designed to kick-start the competitive gene within us, to some extent or other. As a previously self-confessed Chatter nut, I’m pleased to see this as a new Chatter adoption tool for the armoury. It will encourage less lurking (surfing colleagues’ posts and no doubt learning useful information - but not engaging or adding value to the discussion) and more collaborating. This is where the value of Chatter lies.

Other Chatter enhancements in the Salesforce Spring ‘12 edition include:

• Improved access to information and files posted previously through the introduction of bookmarks and several search improvements.
• The ability to share public Chatter posts in a Twitter re-tweet style, or to share snapshots of dashboards and other components.
• More recommendations-style content, designed to connect you with the people and information that may be relevant.
• Improved file sharing - users can now post larger files and attach them to comment streams which will help to structure similar content together.

Here’s an example of a Chatter interaction that would have previously resulted in at least four posts and can now be condensed to one with three comments:

“Who has examples of a sales proposal where we positioned X successfully?” Then, sales reps from the US, the UK and Australia can share their content as comments.

But, Chatter Influence holds the most interest for me. That may well be because of my inner competitive streak which comes to life in every board game or on every ski slope. But, maybe it’s because I understand the value of collaboration. After all I’m from Bluewolf - a company where you are valued not just for what you know, but for what you share. 

Follow me at @emmadunstone.