Executives should steer clear of the blogosphere

A FT.com article explains why executives should stay clear of the blogosphere. Or more specifically, if they’re going to blog, they shouldn’t just write platitudes in a disco dad voice and should open up the comments. The potential problem with executives blogs is that they can be one step removed from a press release or sound washed. A blog should be the exact opposite of Walmart Facts or similar sites.

The topic of who is going to write all the posts for a blog always comes up. I get asked about it all the time: what voice, who’s going to write it, what are they going to say. However careful and well-meaning a blog can be, if posts are ran though writers, editors, and PR, the blog is going to sound washed.

One suggestion is to have the executive host the blog and dialog with employees, line workers, the creative staff. The people that make the company work, not just the figurehead. Think of it like American Chopper for your company and consider what makes your company, or CEO, interesting. If you blog it like a reality show, it’s going to be far more interesting than a “from the desk of …” newsletter model.