The first part of Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel addresses the benefits of company blogging, including increasing business and providing a forum for holding conversations with customers.  From employee and CEO blogs to internal blogs Scoble and Israel present blogs as if the blog was the driving force in inventing the conversation. The second half of Naked Conversations is a continuation of their examination of blogs and looks at who should blog, the right and wrong way to do it, and new technologies such as video and podcasting.

 According to Scoble and Israel, unless you are a bad person or work for a company dealing with sensitive information, such as a defense contractor, you should allow blogging. Scoble and Israel put blogs up on a communication pedestal making it appear that blogs are the number one way of communicating with customers.  I disagree with this.  While I think blogs are an important communications tool, they are just that a tool of many.  I have issues with the way Scoble and Israel present blogging.   

The first issue I have is how the authors praise Microsoft for their blogging efforts but criticizes Google because for their lack of linking to outside sources (p. 166).  Do Microsoft’s blogs engage customers or contribute to increased sales more than Google’s blog because of their outside links?  Can the Microsoft blogs really be compared to Google given most of them are unofficial employee blogs? 

A second issue I have is that Scoble and Israel mostly use tech companies as reinforcing examples of successful employee blogging.  Companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Sun Microsystems should allow employees to blog, after all their product is technology driven and therefore, they would have technology savvy customers wanting to engage in virtual conversations about the latest and greatest the company has to offer. Additionally, their leaders have an understanding of the technology allowing them do it right and eliminating the fear, uncertainty and doubt or FUD (p. 140) that can often surround new technologies or corporate procedures.  

Additionally, Scoble and Israel fail to address the importance of identifying the target audience before considering blogging. Depending on the company, communicating through the Web may not be the best solution. In my opinion, a company needs to look at its target audience before considering a jump into the blogosphere.  A company whose primary target audience is people over the age of 70 may not want to blog considering that a 2006 Pew Internet and American Life Project study looking at online activity by generations found that “only 26 percent of Americans age 70-75 and 17 percent of Americans age 76 or older go online.” Where as a company targeting customers in their twenties would want to consider multiple types of Web communications since the same study found that 84 percent of Americans ages 18-28 go online.  A company needs to research their primary target audience before taking on such a time commitment, because as we have learned throughout the semester, having an inactive blog could be considered as bad as not blogging at all.

I also have an issue with the gray line drawn by the authors on the subject of allowing employee blogs.  Scoble and Israel say that companies should have a liberal policy that allows employees to talk openly about a company and its product so long as the employee does not publish sensitive information, such as trade secrets.  What is not always clear, unless you read closely, is that many of these blogs are not official.  Take Microsoft for example, the only official blog the company has is Channel 9 yet they have numerous employees blogging about their product creating the open and honest conversation Scoble and Israel say most companies should be engaging in.  If everyone should be open and honest then why not make employee blogs official blogs? Wouldn’t an official open and honest employee blog have more creditability than an open and honest non-official employee blog?   I think so. Scoble and Israel should add “make employee blogs official” to their list of how to blog right.  

 PR and the Digital World 

The digital world has open many doors for communicators. Engaging the blogosphere is more than having CEOs blog and encouraging employee blogging; it is being an active participant in the virtual conversations occurring around the business’ interests.  While maintaining blogs may not be the best strategy for all companies, being aware of the blogosphere and the conversations about your company is important for all. This is demonstrated by Scoble and Israel through their example of Kryptonite bike locks. 

According to Scoble and Israel, the story of how to pick a Kryptonite bike lock with a Bic pen spread through the blogosphere like wild fire and it took the company over 10 days to respond in the traditional matter (p. 159).  Had Kryptonite engaged the blogosphere would the outcome have been different or would the end result been the same, Kryptonite exchanging thousands of locks.  Would the only difference for Kryptonite be that their story is an example of what to do instead of what not to do?  I am not sure if we will ever know.  One possible outcome is if Kryptonite had engaged the online world earlier they may have been able to change the conversation from Kryptonite does not care to Kryptonite cares about their customers and admits error, one they are going to fix. Additionally, the negative conversation may not have gone on for as long as it did.

A lesson learned through the Kryptonite crisis is that Public Relations professionals should monitor, contribute to valuable conversations, and engage bloggers if the situation is right.  Bloggers should be considered part media mix, after all this is a technology that is not going away, Web.20 and the future Web 3.0 are going to continue to affect the way we do business, especially as communicators.

While blogs may not be a tool you want to use in everyday business creating a blog is something everyone should consider when developing a crisis communication plan.  Blogs allow companies to engage in the conversation and disseminate information quickly.  Additionally, depending on the crisis, companies can link to valuable resources and news stories addressing the incident. This can be very helpful when trying to dispel rumors and untruths.  Although, in my opinion, blogs should not be the only tool, TV and radio will more than likely reach a larger audience. Additionally, in a situation where not much information can be released a company may want to wait on posting the blog since the company would not have much to add to the conversation other than no comment at this time.  

The future of blogging is not 100 percent clear but the possibilities are endless.  Blogs could potentially outnumber static Web sites. Public Relations professionals may start to create interactive press release blogs instead of distributing them through wire services.  Through links, comments, and insightful posts the Internet could become corporate American’s most valuable communication vehicle.