What are you views on blogging from companies that generally don't receive positive input from the outside world?
How useful is a blog for a cable or cell phone company? How about Philip Morris or Health insurance? How beneficial is blogging for companies that people love to hate?
You have to blog on something you are passionate about. But if you work for an evil company I don't have any advice for you, except maybe get another job :)
Thanks for the responses. I'm pulling together some research but what I'm seeing is that people who work in insurance or cable companies legitimately believe that they are offering high quality products and services.
They are well intentioned people that care about their consumers but if they started a blog it would be overrun with trolls and render any useful dialogue impossible.
Should you moderate for only positive input? Surely they'd get disparaged for that too. It seems like a no win situation.
I can't believe that opening a conversation could ever be a bad thing. You have to start somewhere.
I suppose the hecklers are inevitable but you can mitigate it. I like Robert Scoble's "living room test" -- if a comment would be inappropriate in your living room, delete it.
That opens the door to legitimate disagreement as long as people are civil to each other.
If you delete comments that are obviously inflammatory the trollers usually find someone else to bait.
You can also disable anonymous comments, which helps.
Yes Carolyn. In some way i think you don't understand blogging till you try it, and for each person, depending on what they do, they get a different result.
Yep, glad I found this. It is a reminder of my personal promise to start blogging for work by tomorrow.
------------
The company is made up of six distinct businesses. Very fast-paced and very little communication between the different units.
There are so many negative & positive aspects to discuss, that I think blogging (thinking, communicating, visualizing) should be a significant part of my job. At least getting the conversation started will help me figure out where (and if) I can grow with the company.
good stuff Dave - I am starting a project to help my son Scott Davison president of Raydiance to apply the social media of blogging,structured RSS feed aggregation,and wikis to his requirements for internal communnication and to connect with his "publics" I would love to talk with you about this project offline.
Hello, I am a big believer that legitimacy/authority on the outside brings legitimacy/authority on the inside. So yes to the public use of blogs ... See also (in French) the interview I made from a top blogger from Sun http://www.fabernovel.com/news/corporate-blogging-et-innovation-interview-d2019alexis-moussine-pouchkine-evangelist-chez-sun-microsystems/ Or some thinking on knowledge design on my blog at www.uswim.net
I think you make an important point. The community support and stimulation of ideas and thinking you can get when blogging and engaged in other social media can be tremendously powerful.
... but not the way you think. A blog is a way of getting support and affirmation from the outside, for the things you are trying to do on the inside.
What are you views on blogging from companies that generally don't receive positive input from the outside world?
ReplyDeleteHow useful is a blog for a cable or cell phone company? How about Philip Morris or Health insurance? How beneficial is blogging for companies that people love to hate?
As always, I wonder how a company that makes medical supplies would go about blogging. Would they be targeting hospitals? Patients?
ReplyDeleteYou have to blog on something you are passionate about. But if you work for an evil company I don't have any advice for you, except maybe get another job :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the responses. I'm pulling together some research but what I'm seeing is that people who work in insurance or cable companies legitimately believe that they are offering high quality products and services.
ReplyDeleteThey are well intentioned people that care about their consumers but if they started a blog it would be overrun with trolls and render any useful dialogue impossible.
Should you moderate for only positive input? Surely they'd get disparaged for that too. It seems like a no win situation.
I can't believe that opening a conversation could ever be a bad thing. You have to start somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the hecklers are inevitable but you can mitigate it. I like Robert Scoble's "living room test" -- if a comment would be inappropriate in your living room, delete it.
That opens the door to legitimate disagreement as long as people are civil to each other.
If you delete comments that are obviously inflammatory the trollers usually find someone else to bait.
You can also disable anonymous comments, which helps.
I love your quotes--In terms of education, the power of blogging to help change things is tremendous.
ReplyDeleteWhen others from outside your campus share ideas, or recognize what you are doing, it does create more validity in the eyes of the place you are.
I think people have very little idea of the power of this tool.
Yes Carolyn. In some way i think you don't understand blogging till you try it, and for each person, depending on what they do, they get a different result.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a leap of faith.
Yep, glad I found this. It is a reminder of my personal promise to start blogging for work by tomorrow.
ReplyDelete------------
The company is made up of six distinct businesses. Very fast-paced and very little communication between the different units.
There are so many negative & positive aspects to discuss, that I think blogging (thinking, communicating, visualizing) should be a significant part of my job. At least getting the conversation started will help me figure out where (and if) I can grow with the company.
------------
Leaps of faith are at hand.
Blogging is like a box of chocolates :)
ReplyDeletegood stuff Dave - I am starting a project to help my son Scott Davison president of Raydiance to apply the social media of blogging,structured
ReplyDeleteRSS feed aggregation,and wikis to his requirements for internal communnication and to connect with his "publics" I would love to talk with you about this project offline.
Hello, I am a big believer that legitimacy/authority on the outside brings legitimacy/authority on the inside. So yes to the public use of blogs ... See also (in French) the interview I made from a top blogger from Sun http://www.fabernovel.com/news/corporate-blogging-et-innovation-interview-d2019alexis-moussine-pouchkine-evangelist-chez-sun-microsystems/
ReplyDeleteOr some thinking on knowledge design on my blog at www.uswim.net
I think you make an important point. The community support and stimulation of ideas and thinking you can get when blogging and engaged in other social media can be tremendously powerful.
ReplyDelete