Corporate Blogging Policies | BlogRisk

A Blogging Policy is a Point-solution; Consider a more Strategic "Media Policy"

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:00:17 -0400

Employees are likely to make mistakes using a variety of communications media - Blogging is just one of many conduits that can get you in hot water.

I've said many times - everyone blogs; but they aren't all using a blog solution to do it. That email you sent last week to outsiders hyping your latest company news is fundamentally a blog post with limited (but not always private) distribution. ;-)

Since the Internet (and other communications conduits) provide so many ways to create additional risks for a company, it might make sense to address blog risk at a higher, more strategic level. David Meerman Scott's new book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR suggests exactly this idea.

Mike Moran [Biznology] called this book to my attention in a recent post, but also snagged a little [semantic] disagreement from me when he said:

I like to tell people that there is no risk at all with blogging—none. Rather, it's an absolute certainty that someone will eventually do something stupid. -- Mike Moran

This is a simplified assessment of a potentially complex issue. For starters, it's not an absolute certainty that someone blogging within your company will do something stupid, but it's prefectly reasonable to assume that the probability of a blogging mistake occuring is relatively high, ergo, the risks of problems associated with business blogging are greater than when not blogging. But setting that distinction aside, the probability of mistakes by your own emplyee bloggers is only one of the causal factors that may create greater risk for your company.

As we all know (by now) it's possible for a company to be sued without legal merit. Therefore, it's possible to be sued without making any mistakes. This idea also applies to blogging; and unfortunately, the nature of blogging provides exceptional awareness about the things you say and the speed and reach your comments have across your industry segment. Because of this, the probability for being mistaken as a company that should be sued, rises ever so slightly, even if the blog content is accurate, fair, well researched, and non-confrontational.

There are many risk factors associated with all forms of communications; each one affects the probability that you will encounter problems.

So, Mike is in error [perhaps only at a semantic level] - the assumption that eventually there will be blog-related mistakes doesn't imply that there's no risk. This assumption simply shapes the risk probability in one dimension - i.e., the level of risk created by the employee blogger.

Blogger's Code of Conduct: A Civility-based Idea

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:44:22 -0400

Tim O'Reilly recently proposed a Bloggers Code of Conduct and invited comments about the idea. You can fine the complete rehash here, and the comments (166 as of today) are well worth perusing.

However...

Be very careful about the interpretation of this information. The blogosphere (by definition) contains a significant bias - the most prolific and popular bloggers have deeper and louder voices and "bloggers" may not represent less vocal participants of the conversational web and certainly not all businesses when it comes to risk and exposure of blogging.

Bloggers and businesses that blog, share some common traits - they both want to participate in the blogosphere and they want to be heard. But businesses that blog do not necessarily have the same requirements as individuals that blog. Having made this subtle distinction, you can begin to imagine some of the things that really matter to businesses (such as legal risk), are almost inconsequential to individuals.

The Premise...

Tim O'Reilly opens the draft of "The Code" with a fairly useful criticism that applies universally to the conversational web --

"We celebrate the blogosphere because it embraces frank and open conversation. But frankness does not have to mean lack of civility. We present this Blogger Code of Conduct in hopes that it helps create a culture that encourages both personal expression and constructive conversation."

Reasonable people would never debate this logic. I have nothing further to add because the definition of civility is relatively well understood in modern civilizations, especially those that are republic and democracy-based. It's one of those "does without saying" statements. However, Tim felt compelled to say it because the world is not 100% reasonable.

Strategic Blog Management (Blog Rules by Nancy Flynn)

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:27:59 -0400

Possibly the best work we've seen on the subject of bloging risk management.

Your blogging risk and exposure is difficult to measure, but this must-read book will definitely help you get started.

"Nine million U.S. bloggers currently operate with some 80K new blogs appearing daily - but despite this proliferation of blogs, many businesses are missing the boat on their money-making potentials. BLOG RULES: A BUISNESS GUIDE TO MANAGING POLICY, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND LEGAL ISSUES covers both pros and cons of the blog revolution, clarifying threats, revealing opportunities, and covering both external bloggers outside the company with internal bloggers. Among the issues covered: keeping company politics and organization private, protecting confidential company information, and keeping track of the contents of official company blogs." Midwest Book Review

That's enough for me - I'm off to Borders to grab a copy.

Corporate Blogging Policies | BlogRisk

A Blogging Policy is a Point-solution; Consider a more Strategic "Media Policy"

See Also

Blogger's Code of Conduct: A Civility-based Idea

See Also

Strategic Blog Management (Blog Rules by Nancy Flynn)