Comments on: A quick post about corporate blogging…

By: Robin Crumby

Robin Crumby — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:15:59 +0000

Melcrum, the research organization I work for, have just released the findings of a global study into adoption of social media by large corporate and found that 55% of over 2,100 respondents worldwide had already launched or were planning to launch corporate blogs.

You can read about them on the Melcrum blog:

http://www.melcrumblog.com/2007/03/social_media_is.html

By: Donna Papacosta

Donna Papacosta — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:39:48 +0000

Maggie, you ask a very valid question: What if they’re boring and/or can’t write? Whenever I see a blanket statment: “ALL CEOs SHOULD…” I cringe. Blogging is not for every senior leader. For a passionate communicator, it can be a powerful tool in the right setting. And as your commenter James Koole notes, there are other dangers aside from boring people. An off-the-cuff comment can have serious repercussions, especially when the CEO blogger is new to the blogosphere and hasn’t yet built up some trust.

I really enjoy your blog, by the way!

By: James Koole

James Koole — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:30:43 +0000

What if they’re boring and/or can’t write?

Isn’t that where people like you and me come in? Someone who understands it all is going to be needed to help these un-plugged, non-techsavvy CEO’s figure out what to do with all this stuff.

The scary thing is that a minor misstep can turn viral in a big hurry and really do some damage to the company. These days a dismissive blog post or an ill-advised forum rebuttal hits a site like Digg or Reddit, and within hours the masses have read it and made judgments about you, your business and whether to continue supporting it with their wallets.

It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and write the whole social media trend off as something for “the kids” but there’s some scary power out there on the Internets…