Johnnie Moore's Weblog: The strains of corporate blogging

November 4, 2003

The strains of corporate blogging

I've been reading Robert Scoble's recent post updating his Corporate Weblog Manifesto.

He wrote the Manifesto the day after being offered his current job at Microsoft. His update is posted a few months later. What intrigues me is the contrast between the two. The original manifesto is optimistic, challenging and inspiring...

Tell the truth.. Post fast on good news or bad.. use a human voice.. have a thick skin.. if you screw up, acknowledge it.. never hide information

Compare and contrast with his update, written as a Microsoft employee. Check the full entry to get these quotes in context, but note the language of these snippets..

Don't be sensationalistic.. If you don't want to put your career at risk: don't ever give away company secrets. Assume that everything is a company secret until you see the PR team put it out there.. Stay away from topics that have conflict..

It's surprising how the whole tone shifts from one of engagement to one of avoidance; from a list of dos to one of don'ts... for me from courage to fear.

Don't get me wrong; I think Scoble keeps a fantastic blog and is being very open and honest here. I'm not saying this is a binary good:evil thing. But when you think about the challenge Microsoft faces from Open Source, you have to wonder about the relative authenticity of the conversations in the two environments.

Posted by Johnnie Moore at 11:07 in Authenticity
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Comments (2)

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Robert Scoble says

Actually, the reason I wrote that manifesto back before I came to Microsoft is to remind myself of my principles, even in the face of danger. I look back at it often.

November 5, 2003 22:51 Permalink for comment

Halifax Lawyer says

I am new to the internet and I am surfing here and this is very interesting reading. I did a search in the search engines on "company blog" and I found your web blog.
I am a Lawyer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and thus my interest in searching for a company blog on the WWW.
I just wanted to see how the rest of the world thinks and see what trends and technology are happening in the world. I also was interested in a blog for myself which might possibly lead to a blob for my law firm, you never know, that is if I can understand the technology of operating a blog. The different things discussed on a website found by searching for "company blog" in the search engine is very amusing reading to this Halifax Lawyer.

Respectfully yours
B. J. Stephens, LL.B.
A Halifax Lawyer

February 8, 2004 18:56 Permalink for comment