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SiliconValley.com reports on the Blog Business Summit being held in San Francisco, where:
Public relations representatives of companies from Hewlett-Packard to Wells Fargo are here to meet Mullenweg [21-year-old developer of a blogging tool for companies] and other blogging bigwigs to get tips on how to communicate with bloggers, and how best to get the word out about their products -- on their own blogs. The internal effects of the blog revolution in any organization will be profound. A quotation that should be written in letters of fire to hang over the desk of every CEO is: The larger any organization, the higher the probability that its top management lives in a totally imaginary world.
(I have no idea of the source of this -- if you know, please email me.)
The reason, of course, is that communications through channels tend to remove the bad news, especially anything that reflects unfavorably on the communicator, and by the time things filter through the layers most of the juice has been removed.
Corporate blogging creates a possibility of alternative channels of communication. The promise may be snuffed, of course, because the blog channel can get so stuffed with drivel and egotism that any gems are buried, but filtering mechanisms (of a good kind) are also developing apace.
The reality-based world is not necessarily a comfortable one:
Just how should companies respond to snarky bloggers? Clam up, or let their employees start their own blogs to respond? Mullenweg and scores of his cohorts here believe companies will see the light and launch their own blogs. The trend is still in its early days: "Right now, they're paralyzed by fear," says Mullenweg.
As he offers his sneak preview, another blogger celeb walks into the lobby and greets him. It's Robert Scoble, who writes the "Scobleizer" blog.
Scoble works for Microsoft, which many Silicon Valley veterans like to view as the evil empire. His blog is often critical of Microsoft's offerings, but the company hasn't snuffed him. This has boosted both Scoble's credibility and Microsoft's. "It's hard to underestimate what he's done for Microsoft," remarks Mullenweg, "and it's hard to hate Microsoft anymore." A comparable shift is occurring in broader communities. Once upon a time, like, three years ago, the Washington Post and the New York Times were the dominant channels of intra-governmental communication. Now, the blogs of both left and right are monitoring these channels and replacing them.
posted by James DeLong @ 7:54 AM | General
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