Corporate World Versus Blogging

I was in Orlando on Friday attending BlogOrlando. It was an interesting event and I actually like the “unconference” format. Rather than the one way dribble of a potentially boring lecture, there was a constant back and forth. Very welcome change.

But, one of the things that came up constantly while I was there was how bloggers working for corporations had their hands tied. One guy I recall specifically. He worked for the Tampa Tribune, running one of their blogs. He was curious how to promote his blog given that the company would only list his site WAY down at the bottom of the primary website. And the problem was that most of the ideas we came up with would not be easily applied because the powers that be wouldn’t go for it.

The constant themes I found were:

• Problems explaining the idea of blogging to corporate bosses in the boardroom.
• Problems with corporate bosses killing ideas because they didn’t see a blog as valuable.
• Problems with companies not TRUSTING their personnel to blog. They are afraid bad stuff might air in public, I guess.

It really is unfortunate. I have been in a cacoon. I am my own boss. When I want to do something, I just do it. Many other bloggers who work for companies don’t have that freedom.

And that’s kinda sad.

To Such Companies

What we’re running up against is the dichotomy between the old way of thinking and the new media. Traditional thinking is to hold things close to the vest and you MANAGE the media. In other words, dish out those things that make you look great and try to hide all the rest. The problem is - that’s not only an old way of thinking, it is not workable. Not anymore.

Business is getting personal again. Going are the days when big corporate lingo is the way to do things. The emergence of social media sites online is putting personality to people again. We want people who are being themselves. We want people who speak of “I” and not just “we”. We want companies that participate in the global conversation, not just hammer us with a barrage of ads aimed to interrupt us and try to fool us out of our money.

And for the corporate bottom line folks, don’t worry. Blogging, especially when done correctly, can and will generate business and goodwill for your company. You should not tie the hands of bloggers. You should instead work to ENABLE bloggers for your company. Bring some people onboard who are internet-savvy and have them get your company’s tentacles out into the global conversation. Don’t shackle them.

This is an evolution in media. A new media, if you will. It will take time to catch on.

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