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April 28, 2005

Blogging 101Corporate blogging policies

Every company should have a blogging policy. Even if you don't have a company blog, one of your employees, somewhere, is blogging. Are they blogging about where they work? Of course. Here are three policies to get you started:

1. Charlene Li, Forrester Research analyst, has created an example blogging policy.

Sample Corporate Blogging policy


  • Make it clear that the views expressed in the blog are yours alone and do not necessarily represent the views of your employer.
  • Respect the company’s confidentiality and proprietary information.
  • Ask your manager if you have any questions about what is appropriate to include in your blog.
  • Be respectful to the company, employees, customers, partners, and competitors.
  • Understand when the company asks that topics not be discussed for confidentiality or legal compliance reasons.
  • Ensure that your blogging activity does not interfere with your work commitments.

2. Robert Scoble, Microsoft employee and blogger, has 20 rules for corporate blogging, beginning with “Tell the Truth.”
Other key points:


  • Be honest & transparent
  • Acknowledge mistakes
  • Be an expert on your topic, or link to other experts
  • Know your web technology
  • Pay attention to leading voices and sites, such as Doc Searls and Slashdot
  • Link to your competitors and say nice things about them

3. Mark Jen is a former Google employee who was fired for posting company information on his blog, 11 days after he started (the blog and as a Google employee). He's now at Plaxo, complete with blog, and he and Plaxo are creating Internet guidelines for employees.

Mark Jen/Plaxo blogging guidelines:
While we encourage open communication both internally and externally in all forms, we expect and insist that such communication does not substantively demean our environment. This means that constructive criticism — both privately and publicly — is welcome, but harsh or continuous disparagement is frowned upon.

Externally communicating about aspects of the company that are part of your non-disclosure agreement (partnership deals, earnings, upcoming unannounced features, etc.) is ALWAYS forbidden, however, and grounds for immediate termination and legal action.

Specific policies
7. You may not post any material that is obscene, defamatory, profane, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to another person or any other person or entity. This includes, but is not limited to, comments regarding Plaxo, Plaxo employees, Plaxo’s partners and Plaxo’s competitors.

Posted by root at 11:30 AM
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Blogging 101Recommended reading

Much is being written about blogs but these examples are required reading.

1. The Cluetrain Manifesto, by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls and David Weinberger:
Subtitle: Markets are conversations, talk is cheap, silence is fatal. The end of business as usual
The first three of its 95 theses:


  • Markets are conversations.
  • Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
  • Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.

2. We the Media, by Dan Gillmor


  • Journalism is evolving from corporate journalism & mainstream media to grassroots journalism
  • Personal journalism has a long tradition in U.S.
  • Three formerly distinct groups will continue to blur: journalists, newsmakers and audience

3. BusinessWeek: Blogs Will change your business
Subtitle: Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up...or catch you late

And a sidebar from BusinessWeek: Six Tips for Corporate Bloggers
Subtitle: You can't afford to miss this wave -- and even more important, you can't afford to do it wrong

Posted by root at 10:57 AM
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April 27, 2005

Blogging 101About podcasting

Although this study has a large margin of error (plus or minus 7.5 points), this PEW Internet & American Life study (PDF) is nonetheless interesting.

According to the April 2005 study, more than 22 million American adults own iPods or MP3 players and 29% of them have downloaded podcasts from the Web so that they could listen to audio files at a time of their choosing. That amounts to more than 6 million adults who have tried this new feature that allows internet “broadcasts” to be downloaded onto their portable listening device.

Resources:
www.ipodder.org
www.podcast.net

Posted by at 09:43 AM
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Blogging 101Blogging statistics

The PEW Internet & American Life Project Study updated its blogging survey data in May, which was first published in January 2005. Here are the latest findings:

9% of U.S. Internet users have created a blog


  • 57% are male
  • 48% under 30
  • 39% have college degrees
  • 42% live in houses where income > $50K

25% of U.S. Internet users have read blogs

  • Similar demographics to blog authors, but with growth among women, minorities, ages 30-49, and dialup connectors

You can find the complete report, "The State of Blogging," here.

Posted by at 09:39 AM
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