[Sigia-l] Corporate blogs, again

[Listera]

"Adrian Howard" wrote:

> Blogs offer yet another way for organisations to communicate with the public.

It's interesting that you see corporate blogs as (just) another tool for the
corporation to get its message out to the public. I agree.

However, the debate on this issue has focused on the independency of the
blogger and the personal nature of the effort which is after all what
distinguishes a blog from a regular (corporate) website.

This is what troubles me. Blogs are assumed to be personal efforts and
independent. Otherwise what's the point? Does Microsoft with $50 billion in
the bank really need Scobel to get its message out? It has been doing fine
without blogs for nearly two decades, capable of planting any story it wants
in just about any publication and influencing the market with any FUD it
chooses. These corporate blogs seem to me to be just another tool used by
corporations for their public PR.

Since I just can't believe that the vast majority of corporations would
tolerate a blogger (whose salary they pay) to criticize them with any
regularity, I simply assume them to be an extension of the corporate PR.

Some argue that bloggers such as Scobel, for instance, give us a rare
glimpse into the internals of companies like Microsoft. That's nonsense. If
Microsoft wanted its internals to be public, there are a thousand different
ways it could do so more effectively and with more credibility.

So from the corporation's POV public-facing blogs are a great PR tool but
from the public's POV they should be viewed with great skepticism. That to
me is not a healthy combination, sustainable for the long run.

----
Ziya

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.