Corporate Blogging
Last week, Shel Israel interviewed me for the book that he and Scoble are writing, code named ?The Red Couch?. He wanted to talk about my being the first corporate blogger at Microsoft, and the impact of blogging both internal and external to the company.
First, while I think that we had to overcome some initial roadblocks, we didn’t have to change anything fundamental about the company to enable employees to blog freely. I never would have started my blog (or I would have worked elsewehere)if I didn’t believe that blogging was compatible with the company culture and would inevitably become common. Microsoft might be more open than some companies in this respect, but I also think that companies who try to choke off information flow are the exception rather than the rule. So I believe that most companies would be similar — initially hesitant, but ultimately receptive to blogging. One of Shel’s themes was blogging in smaller companies, and we both agreed that blogging is probably more important to smaller companies than for larger companies.
Next we talked about how blogging has changed Microsoft internally and external perceptions. Blogging has had a number of benefits already cited by people like Scoble; better hires, better feedback, information dissemination, etc. I also think blogging has contributed significantly to softening Microsoft’s image, but primarily among people who follow technology blogs. There are certainy many other things Microsoft has done, cooperating with former rivals, tweaking business practices, etc. which contributed more on a broad scope.
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Recently we’ve been having internal discussions about ROI and ?metrics? for blogging, and I’m seeing that people have divergent opinions about what constitutes blogging. As corporate blogging becomes more mainstream, many traditional community outreach activities such as newsgroups, e-mail newsletters, and event communiques are appropriating blog technologies. But I don’t think of these as being ?blogs? — these are newsletters delivered via RSS, or in the case of ?group blogs?, simply a portal which aggregates other blogs. Portals and newsletters are just portals and newsletters, regardless of whether or not they use RSS. Metrics and ROI for these things are well understood. To me, a ?blog? is a personal, unedited, and authentic journal of a single individual who you come to know over time. Hosting a blog is like having dinner with some people you meet at a conference, frineds, neighbors, or whoever. While we encourage employees to be active in their communities and interact as much as possible with peers, customers, and so on — and we selectively hire for such engaged people — it’s difficult to put a metric on ?played golf with some customers?. To me, blogs in the truest sense of the word are just like that.