I commented on a post regarding corporate blogging over at Worthwhile Magazine. I liked it a lot, so I thought I'd post my comment here too.:
One way of thinking about corporate blogging is through the lens of power. In the old days, communications was controlled by the company. PR departments, employee relations, community relations -- all of these existed to spread the company gospel. And, at the same time, assert the power of the corporation.
Today, new technologies such as blogging interrupt that power structure. Rather than being a technology of control (the press release, the corporate rah-rah meeting, the annual report), blogging is a technology of un-control.
I think blogging is one of those new technologies that makes the negotiations about power visible, vs. hiding them in a black box.
Power needs secrecy.
Humanity needs openness.
Ergo - blogging actually works on the side of humanity. As does wikis, the open source movement, social networks, etc. I believe that corporations can benefit from this openness through tapping the credibility that comes through dialogue and honest conversation, vs the old black-boxed credibility of the "expert".
This is a rather simplistic version of the argument I am developing about communications, power and communities. I'll be blogging about this topic at the Global PR Blog Week 1.0 July 12 - 15 I hope you'll stop by and comment.
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