Corporate Sponsored Blogs Risk Undermining Corporate Mission: research
by Duncan
October 11, 2005
According to research conducted by The Wall Street Transcript, corporate blogs do not lend themselves to creating corporate transparency due to the non-representative nature of those who submit posts and “the uncivil tone in which discourse is conducted in the blogosphere”.
David Wanetick, Managing Director of The Wall Street Transcript, said, “I do not believe that transparency is achieved by corporations sponsoring blogs which allow dissatisfied employees and customers a forum to protest. Of even more importance, I do not think that transparency beyond what is required by law is advisable. One reason is that excessive transparency arms adversaries with proprietary information and puts them in positions of advantage during negotiations.”
Well, this is obviously an unenlightened comment from someone who really doesn’t understand blogs or blogging. This is the opinion of someone who hears the word blogs and immediately conjures images of anarchy. In truth, blogs are simply a mechanism for conversation; a tool with which the blogger can determine the nature of the discourse. At SuccessFactors, our corporate blog is a forum for us to communicate with our customers and other people who are interested in the work we do. To find out what they are thinking, and let them know what’s on our mind. Sure, there is the potential for misuse – but that exists in every venture. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I tend to agree with Max. Our corporate site at http://blog.websolvers.com is fairly new but we’re starting to see some great results in the early going. While we certainly could be the target of abuse/misuse, I don’t lose sleep worrying about that. We encourage employees to be honest and forthright on the blog, but not necessarily unprofessional. Why has ‘transparency’ been so misused? Transparency, as a term, does not necessarily mean that we should misbehave or forsake professionalism just because the blogosphere veterans say so.
The advent of blogging in corporate circles brings with it a serious demand for corporate homework. Along the way it will become mandatory for a company to define their protocol for blogging, something that has already become a standard for many organizations. After reviewing a variety of those protocols (most available online) I have not yet come across any that don’t mention the need to keep “proprietary information” out of the public eye.
We will all benefit when we can hold ourselves and the upper echelons of management more accountable- one of the strongest arguments in favor of supporting corporate blogs. Yes, you walk the razor’s edge at times, but if you don’t get up to speed, there is an ocean full of real-time bloggers who will make sure that your oversights and/or blunders are likely to appear tomorrow on the cover of the New York Times.
Like the advent of the internet, the blogosphere ushers in another dimension of business challenges that aint going away too soon, kids. So buckle down, assign your best research team and get with it!