Two of the big boys are finally hopping in, and it seems like one gets it and one...not so much.
General Motors, who in the past year (see: FastLane and Tahoe ads) has established that they are not afraid of the wild world of new media, has launched a brand new employee/corporate blog called FYI Blog.
The blog is written by middle-level employees throughout the organization (though most posts so far are from communications people).
In the introductory post, director of New Media Michael Wiley (who seems to get it) explains:
"Over the last few months we decided that we could add another blog to our portfolio; and that it could be even more grassroots, providing an opportunity for all GM employees to contribute in one way or another...Whereas the FastLane Blog usually gets new entries once or twice a week, the FYI blog aspires to be much more active. Expect to see at least a daily post, written by people throughout the organization."
Review - This blog seems to get it pretty well. It discusses fun, off-the beat topics that will engage and empower consumer evangelists and automobile enthusiasts. If they follow through with profiles and utilize a diverse section of employees, it could give faces and voices to the corporate giant of GM. However, as all the posts are from communications/marketing department so far, I am curious how "open" the blog really is.
Southwest, long heralded as a leader in employee engagement, has launched Nuts about Southwest, which "is all about our Employees, Customers, airplanes, and airports."
According to the convienently timed USA Today article on the blog the company, "about 20 employees, including a flight attendant, a pilot and a mechanic, have volunteered to write for the blog."
Review - So far, the posts have seemed a little Marketing and PR heavy. I hope this company, which is known for its irreverant attitude, lighthens up and allows the blog to convey its employees' personalities. I also think it is funny that one of their links is to Boeing's Randy Baseler's blog, considering Southwest only uses Boeing planes.
I think a much better blog by Southwest is their Adopt-a-Pilot Blog, which features content from school children around the country.
Update: Angela Vargo from Southwest (who I believe is in their PR department) e-mailed me with this comment:
"Just wanted to thank you for your post...I know we're a little marketing heavy right now on Nuts About Southwest but we're starting to get some great posts from our pilots, mechanics and flight attendants. They don't spend time in front of computers so it will take them a little bit longer to get into the blogging groove. I am very dedicated to making this blog "real" - I don't want fluff, I'll include negative comments, and I want the public to see us for who we are...if you ever saw our reality show "Airline," you know we don't shy away from controversy."
Nice to know they are monitoring what is being said about them and are open to criticism.
What does all this mean
Power of regular employees - These blogs reveal the credibility of middle-level and front-line employees. Edelman's (yes, I am pimping my company) most recent Trust Barometer showed rank-and file employees are trusted far more that CEOs and CFOs (42% vs. 28%). Gates doesn't blog, but Scoble and thousands of others at Microsoft do.
Credibility of blogs - Sure, most of the millions of blogs are still about people's pets and dates, however now we are seeing more journalists are turning to blogs and a recent report from Pew revealed, that 45% of internet users totalling 60 million Americans have made important decisions iin the past two years based on online information."
Getting the story out - I have always said that blogs were of great poetential to companies because instead of hoping and waiting for media to say what you want them to, you can get the story aout yourself. These companies are creating their own media. We have CGM (Citizen Generated Media), this is more like EGM (Employee Generated Media) not to be confused with EEI. Interestingly, most of all of the topics that these blogs address issues that the company wants to talk about. Quirky stories or retorts to MSM articles.
Where is the transparency? - When I post it comes from me. No one else looks at it before it goes live. Is this the best system for a company? maybe not. However, readers know that these are my thoughts and opinions. These blogs should answer some questions:
- What is the submission process for blog material?
- What is the approval process for blog material?
- Are employees allowed or asked to comment? and what are possible consequences?
- Do the companies have blogging policies that cover other employee blogs?
Other views:
Josh Hallett
Neville Hobson
Robert Ricci
Technorati Tags: GM, Southwest, employees, FYI, EEI, CGM, EGM, blog, employeess
Corporate blogs are poised to explode in cyberspace, especially whey you see firms as stodgy as GM beginning to use them. I see them being used increasingly for organizational change purposes - for obvious reasons.
Robert Edward Cenek
www.cenekreport
Posted by: Robert Cenek | Friday, April 28, 2006 at 04:37 AM