The so-called Blog Council, a group formed by AccuQuote, Cisco Systems, The Coca-Cola Company, Dell, Gemstar-TV Guide, General Motors, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, Nokia, SAP, and Wells Fargo in order to create and promote "best practices in corporate blogging," launched on Thursday and is already taking a ton of heat in the blogosphere. I was going to write about this yesterday after I heard about it one of my favorite political blogs Scholars and Rogues, who put together what is still one of the best posts about this topic so far. Instead, I decided to wait and let my thoughts percolate overnight.
In theory, the Blog Council is a good idea -- getting corporations to blog and communicate on a more personal level with customers and the new media (i.e., bloggers, podcasters, etc.) is a good thing. So is getting corporations to better understand and deal with the fact that their employees are going to blog, and that firing them for saying something that doesn't toe the corporate line isn't necessarily the best tactic. But the execution on day one doesn't leave me with high hopes for the future of the Blog Council initiative. Most strikingly, how can a council that plans to promote best practices for business bloggers do so while not blogging?
The first two posts on the Blog Council are a FAQ and a press release -- i.e., two forms of communication indicative of the old way of doing business. Neither are really blog posts -- though they're formatted as such, nothing on the site supports commenting and nothing new has been added since day one. As S&R points out, the message to the reader is: "you’re here to listen, because customers should be seen and not heard." It doesn't sound like these corporations really get blogging at all.
So far, what the Blog Council is demonstrating is, as Dave Taylor points out, not the best practices at all, but rather the worst. If businesses really want to learn how to leverage blogging, perhaps they should just start reading blogs. My colleague Marshall Kirkpatrick, for example, yesterday wrote a great post about how to deal with bloggers who criticize your company. Former corporate bloggers like Robert Scoble also often have advice for corporate blogs... no council needed if you just keep your eyes open.
Comments
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Having the advantage of being a blogger before I was brought on by HP to manage Web 2.0 programs like blogging, I appreciate the value that an organization like the Blog Council brings.
Yeah the name might be a bit bold and the fact that they're a private group will upset all the bloggers/consultants out there because they're not invited to play, but ultimately I think this will be a good thing.
I also have a lot of trust in Andy. Look at what he started with WOMMA. If he carries over that same tenacity and passion for "doing things right" then I'm sure the Blog Council will be a big success.
Posted by: Tac Anderson | December 7, 2007 11:24 AM
They need a snappier name. Norsefire?
Posted by: John Goodwin | December 7, 2007 11:56 AM
Dell and the other founding members of the Blog Council signed up not to learn about blogging, but to participate in an additional forum of peers to improve our listening and engagement skills. This can be a good thing, and we're confident it will.
At the risk of threadjacking, my colleague and Dell's chief blogger, Lionel Menchaca, says it far better than I could:
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/12/06/37574.aspx#comments
Posted by: JohnP@Dell | December 7, 2007 12:07 PM
So, according to post #3, they are not there to carry on a conversation with the public. Hmm. That's cool. Lots of blogs are targeted specifically at one group of readers. I can accept that. They just wanted a little corner of the web to talk amongst themselves...
?BlogCouncil endif; ?
?BlogCouncil getReal; ?
Posted by: Jon | December 7, 2007 1:55 PM
And who's to say they solely need to web to talk amongst themselves? I see there's an unconference coming up, so they'll undoubtedly use f2f opportunities as well.
I was at the SNCR conference and had a chance to ask Christopher Barger about GM's intention of joining, and he was very upfront about it - GM wants to learn from other large companies, because they have unique perspectives on and experience with social media that are different than those that smaller entities have.
I say good for them. And no, they don't have to blog about it on blogcouncil.org.
Posted by: Scott Monty | December 7, 2007 2:36 PM
this is _exactly_ what i've been thinking for _so_ long now - helping corporations participate more in the new media space so they can more effectively implement policies which are disastrous for humankind. i'm so glad to be a part of this.
Posted by: Peter | December 7, 2007 7:47 PM
Dell's IR blog and Wal-Mart's sustainability blog need to be singled out as great resources that ehance governance and communication with stakeholders.
I feel the council is adopting a safety-first approach, which could result in them setting themselves up for a fall. As long as they bring in some independent web strategists to provide some perspective. After all, this facebook generation are going to be your shareholders in a few years.
Posted by: Derek | December 7, 2007 10:38 PM
Your Blog Council link doesn't work.
Posted by: Dale Cruse | December 8, 2007 6:10 AM
@Dale #8: Thanks! Fixed.
Posted by: Josh Catone | December 8, 2007 8:05 AM
so they started a committee (council) for something they really didn't know much about and started it up before they figured out what their plan of action is going to be. and people wonder where adams gets his idea for dilbert strips.
Posted by: dan | December 9, 2007 3:16 AM
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Dan #10 -- I respectfully disagree with your assessment. Actually, these are some of the smartest people I've ever had the privilege of working with. These are the people inside corporations who "get it". But rather than crow about how their efforts or claim that their way is the best way, they decided instead to come together in the spirit of collegiality and with the attitude that sharing with your peers was the best way to make progress.
Ask yourself this: who would you rather work with? The person who says, "I have an idea, but let's work together to find the answers" or the person who says "I have all the answers."
As John, Lionel, and Christopher have all pointed out much better than I could, the Blog Council is all about listening and learning.
BTW, Ratbert and Dogbert still crack me up.
Posted by: Michael E. Rubin, Blog Council | December 12, 2007 4:43 PM