Company blogs / k-logs

Phil brings together several links to postings concerning the question why and how blogging is good for companies. From the M-E-X-blog (in German) comes this list of 10 points why companies won't blog: (any translation mistakes are purely mine)

1) Possible publication of company secrets
2) Too much effort to get the blog in sync with both PR-people and the Legal-people
3) Conversational style of the blog might clash with corporate branding (e.g. with a top bank.)
4) The blog might turn into a blatant PR channel, turning readership away, being an one-sided, or even untrustworthy source
5) Employees or departments becoming dissatisfied due to jealousy and politics. (I think internal differences being fought out in blogs is primarily meant here, and dissenters within the company becoming more visible: both often unwanted by management)
6) No clear distinction between news and blogs (Why read the news if you can read blogs)
7) Too much time spent on replying to customer feedback on blogs
8) Blogsilence will cause suspicion of something being wrong amongst readership
9) Politics again: company seldom have one (management) voice inside the company. Likewise it will be difficult to find one blogging voice to the outside
10) As long as the competition doesn't blog, why should we?

These 10 objections sound like very likely to be brought up when introducing blogs in a company. But the reasoning behind these objections has nothing to do with blogging as such, but everything to do with such a company having missed the cluetrain.

The list exudes the fear of talking to people. And also of fear of letting your people talk. That's fear of self-reflection.

The Dean campaign team for the next elections for the US Presidency, have embraced blogging and have stated that they accepted that with creating the blog, and the community of readers that flocked to it, meant giving up some control of the message. But the rewards have been astounding. The blog-triggered grass roots movement has changed the chances of Dean for the Democratic candidacy.

Blogs as a way of communicating of course are only useful in some situations, and as an answer to some business needs or problems. But usefulness is not inversely proportional to fear. Business should not be conducted on the basis of fear, as it so often is. It should be conducted on the basis of vision and self-belief, as it so often is not.