Jeff Nolan, who works at SAP, talks about how social media is used at SAP. I found this passage to be very familiar:
“Culturally we have some issues as well. SAP is a company that is serious about managing message and brand, and quite honestly that strategy has delivered results over the years. Trying to convince people that they need to give up that control for the freewheeling world of blogs where anyone can write anything is a tough sell indeed.”
Yeah, companies that have old-school strong brands (and even some new-school ones) are scared of letting their lowly peon employees talk on the Internet. I hear this all the time from execs when I talk with companies.
I think this is what drove Mena Trott to beg for more civility. She wants more businesses to come onto blogs (since it’s the business types who’ll pay a monthly fee) and they are scared of coming into a place where even journalists use the F-word and go on attack. They see my comment area and say “I want none of that.” Seriously, they do.
Hmmm, maybe having trolls is a competitive advantage? 
