By: Suzanne Hicks
A blog by Mathew Ingram, ‘Dude, blogging is so over’, caught my eye today. Mathew comments on a blog written by Dee Rambeau entitled ‘Why I’ve stopped blogging.’ Mathew says he was pointed to the blog by student PR blogger Chris Clarke who has his own site of blog links, which are also very interesting to read.
The blog by Dee Rambeau is posted on a site called Marcomblog, which is written by marketing and public relations professionals and students in Auburn University’s Department of Communications and Journalism in Alabama. In it, Dee talks about how he’s tired of blogging and provides his views on how blogging affects PR and business.
He boldly states:“I am convinced after 3 years of blogging that blogging is not a positive thing for business, rather it is a negative.” Dee then goes on to say that for public corporations blogging is useless and irresponsible and that “no corporate communications person in their right mind would allow a C-level executive blog.”
An interesting back and forth dialogue develops between Dee and Mathew regarding Dee’s comments with the addition of comments from many other people. Mathew of course defends blogging and brings up some great points with examples such as how Dell uses blogging as a way to respond to customers. He also mentions how JetBlue’s founder recently posted a video on YouTube apologizing to customers who were stranded at an airport in poor conditions during an ice storm.
Personally, I was really impressed by the video by JetBlue’s founder. It wasn’t a slick piece and he didn’t speak as if he was reading directly from a script. His apology came across as more real and heartfelt as a result. He also provided a detailed action plan to ensure the problems don’t reoccur instead of simply apologizing and saying that they will work harder not to let such a thing happen again. Other companies should take note and consider using the increasingly popular YouTube site to target their customers on a grassroots level.
I’m pretty new to the blogosphere and social media but I find it an amazing way for people to share their ideas and have an impact on companies they both love and hate. I also think it’s a great tool for organizations to connect with their customers to build and develop a valuable two-way relationship.
What do you think of Dee’s comments? Do you think blogging should be used in PR campaigns? Should corporate executives blog or are they asking for trouble?
Suzanne Hicks is a Senior Consultant in the Technology Communications Practice at H&K Toronto.