Corporate Governance of Weblogs (from: Dana VanDen Heuvel)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DanasBlog-InternetMarketingAndSalesTechnologyIdeasFromTheTrenches?m=435
A conversation with a customer last night prompted the question of “who’s thinking about corporate governance of weblogs?” Meaning: When a company has weblogs that are written by its employees, how are they being monitored, what quality controls are in place, what are the ‘managers of the blogging program’ really accountable for, and so on…?
I know, blogs are supposed to be the unfiltered voice of the individual connecting with the customer. However, when we start to add blogging to job descriptions, things change a bit. Or, when we start to ask those “thought leaders” in the company that are already our most prized assets, we have to have a good answer for the WIIFM question when we ask them to start blogging on the behalf of the company.
More to the point, employees need to understand the power of their words in media, and employers need to understand, and deliver a crystal clear set of expectations on what they’re seeking from the would-be blogger and what’s not acceptable.
I don’t have the answers to this yet, but as more companies think about what it means to have their internal associates, CEO, or anyone else from their company blogging, they need to pay attention to expectations and accountabilities.