Blogosphere

There are no easy answers to the issue that John Edwards faced last week when he was forced to fire two of his campaign bloggers due to comments they had made on their personal blogs that were sarcastic and disrespectful toward the Catholic Church’s stance on birth control and abortion.

One of the major fears that companies and other organizations have about getting involved with the blogosphere is the possibility of this kind of a blowup. Companies and political candidates alike have legitimate reason to fear credibility-damaging associations with incendiary bloggers.

That said, almost all bloggers have said something that pissed someone off at one point or another. Even Robert Scoble — who is a well-regarded paragon of business blogginess — has created scandal with his remarks.

Perhaps it’s time for companies and political candidates to distance themselves from actions and remarks, rather than the individuals who made them. I’ve always held that Al Gore would have won the 2000 presidential election had he opted to acknowledge Bill Clinton’s womanizing as an unfortunate personality flaw in an otherwise great man. Instead, Gore distanced himself from Clinton when he needed his charisma most. The rest is history.

Perhaps, Edwards would have been well-served by distancing himself from the specific statements, rather than firing the bloggers outright.

If I were advising Edwards, these are the talking points I would have advised him to use:

• We all work with and respect people whose views don’t always reflect our own. Even John Kerry — who, incidentally is Catholic — and I did not agree on every single policy point, and we ran for President together!
• I have asked the bloggers in question to correct all factual inaccuracies in their blog posts about Catholic theology.
• There is nobody in the liberal blogosphere whose views on all issues overlap exactly with my own. In the absence of such an intellectual doppleganger, I am reaching out to a broad base of bloggers whose audiences I hope to court as supporters. Some of these bloggers may articulate views that I disagree with or even deplore. Nevertheless, they are on the whole decent people who have the right to speak freely.

And of course, Scoble’s advice to “take the heat and overcommunicate,” would be wise to follow as well.

Jeff Jarvis has introduced the idea of a measurement summit to bring together all the companies that offer blogosphere monitoring and measurement services.

I know this is something Steve is interested in and being in Mexico, I haven’t had the opportunity to chat with him about it.

Steve, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Jeff’s argument.

I’ve been out of the loop in the blogosphere the past few days due to my Mexican vacation. But I couldn’t keep myself away from the Web enough to stop checking out the blogs of some people I really respect.

Steve often asks the prominent bloggers we talk to whether or not they think that the so-called “A-list” is a self-reinforcing phenomenon. Because PageRank/Technorati Rank etc. are so tied up with existing levels of authority, and because A-listers seem to know and link to one another a great deal, it might be hard for a third wave adopted to break into the upper echelons of the blogosphere.

Jeremiah Owyang seems to concur with that philosophy. I respect him tremendously for speaking out about his objections to the Top 2000 bloggers initiative that Loic Le Meur lauded as a “cool initiative.”

The problem is that, as it spreads, the “top 2000″ collage basically turns into a link exchange that only benefits those already at the top.

I’m normally not a blogging purist. I don’t see the blogosphere as sacred, but I do very much enjoy the unfolding of a culture that revolves so much around conversation. All cultures have their objects of value, and in the online world, an inbound link is highly prized. Jeremiah is right to say that aggregations of links to top bloggers is an inflationary force on the value of an inbound link. But in all economies, we must also be aware that those with the most objects of value are best enabled to continually enrich themselves.

Still, I agree with Jeremiah that in this instance. Yes, top bloggers are going to get more inbound links because they are more widely read. That is a self-reinforcing elite group, just like the very wealthy. This is an organic phenomenon. Creating a collage of outbound links to the “top 2000″ bloggers is not organic, it’s pure link farming.

We blogged recently about Starbucks’ run in with a number of Chinese bloggers who object to the presence of a Starbucks store inside the Forbidden City.

But the blogosphere can have the same impact on much smaller-scale businesses. Pagliacci, Seattle’s own gourmet pizza parlor recently ran afoul of some commenters on the West Seattle Blog. Apparently, Paggliacci has a particularly odd delivery area in West Seattle, about which one commenter wrote, “I have often suspected that the delivery area for Pagliacci was set up based on the perceived affluence of the neighborhood. They have never articulated a reason for their circumscribed delivery area.”

The controversy sparked a column by the Seattle P-I’s Robert Jamieson during an admittedly slow news week.

What I find very interesting is that unlike their competition (Garlic Jim’s) Pagliacci did not respond directly to the bloggers. Instead, they elected to speak through Jamieson. They explained that their odd circle of delivery in West Seattle adheres to a “seven minute rule.” If they can’t get from the store to your house in 7 minutes, they won’t do it. Anything more and their pizzas would arrive cold and soggy.

This was met with some serious skepticism from the West Seattle folks. I wish that Pagliacci had reached out to the bloggers directly rather than using the traditional press as a mouthpiece. Some intelligent outreach on their part might have resolved this issue before it became newspaper fodder.

Many thanks once again to Byronicus Maximus for pointing out this interesting kettle of fish.

Based on a survey of 20,000 people, a recent study concluded that only 8% of Americans read blogs. The vast majority are bloggers themselves.

Well, I guess that’s it. We should all pack up and go home. MRI Research and CBS chief research officer David Poltrack has once and for all proven that the blogosphere is utterly irrelevant to the future of anything.

Except that it isn’t. So what if only 8% of people read blogs on any kind of a regular basis? The important thing is that search engines read blogs. What’s more, search engines like blogs. They update a lot and they are remarkably free of stupid, confusing code. Dynamic sites have a huge leg up in the world of search and everyone knows it.

If your customers are looking for products that you make, or services that you provide, you want to be the first thing to show up in the search results. And if you want search engines to consider your site to be the most relevant result to your industry, blogging is the best way to accomplish it.

This whole Web 2.0 thing is a too complicated to be contained in a simple statistic like: “only 8% of people read blogs.” Yes, the blogosphere may be slightly over-hyped right now. But it’s a lot less hype and a lot more substance than this study would indicate.

Many thanks to DL Byron for IMing me the link to this study and its inane conclusions.

So far as I understand things from this article on the subject, it appears that Microsoft is in trouble with the Wikipedia community over its hiring of a bloggr to make “corrections” to an article that the corporation felt was inappropriately slanted in favor of an open-source document standard that competed with one of its products.

Now, I suppose it would have been wise for Microsoft to be more transparent about the issue. But I’m pretty sure that they weren’t trying to be evil sneaks. According to the CNN article I read, they hired blogger Rick Jelliffe — who is also CTO of an Australia-based computing company — to review the article and make changes based on his independent and informed judgment. However, both parties had agreed that Jelliffe’s re-writes were not subject to review or revision by Microsoft. Also, Jelliffe was being paid for his time and his perspective, not the specific copy he was writing.

Prior to hiring Jelliffe, Microsoft made attempts through Wikipedia community-sanctioned channels to flag pieces of the article that they felt were slanted, but got nowhere.

Obviously, they should have handled the situation differently. Had I been Microsoft, I would have had someone in the group responsible for the document standard to blog about the situation. A public call to Wikipedia’s most prolific editors, asking them to give the article another look would probably have gone over a lot better than the course of action Microsoft ultimately chose. But a closer look at their specific actions does show that they were at least attempting to approach the matter ethically.

After 20 minutes of trying to join in on presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton’s interactive Webcast and running into technical problems, I’ve decided to throw in the towel. You can only hit your head against a brick wall so many times before it starts to get sore.

Senators Obama and Edwards are having a much better time with social media engagement because they’re not trying to take control of the time and location on the Web where the conversation takes place, thereby overloading their own servers and alienating people from their chat with America. They’re letting it flow back and forth naturally between their own websites, YouTube, and other existing online communities.

So far, I’d say Edwards gets two points. Obama gets one point, and Hillary gets 0 points…

The Clinton campaign has announced that they will soon be kicking off their campaign blog, and they’ve asked supporters to submit the first post.

I think this is kind of a cool idea so far as buzz building and community involvement go, but I’d rather hear from Senator Clinton herself. She’s talking about how she wants to start a conversation with America, but so far all I’ve heard coming out of her mouth is politics speak. I want to hear some real, practical nitty gritty talk about candidate Clinton’s views on a particular issue.

I’m going to be participating in her live Webcast tonight at 4 p.m. PST. We’ll see how it goes. I hope she’s got enough bandwidth reserved.

I plan to ask her whether or not she’ll be using other social media applications like YouTube, Facebook, etc. and (to take a page from Scoble’s book) whether she intends to keep using them if she’s actually elected.

I was interested to read in today’s Wall Street Journal about the Chinese blogosphere’s outcry over the presence of a Starbucks inside the imperial Forbidden City.

I remember that my impression of the Forbidden City as a mysterious and special place was diminished somewhat when I found out from a friend that there was a Starbucks there. It actually made me less interested in visiting the City, simply because it seemed much less authentic.

Apparently, I’m not in the minority. When Chinese news anchor cum blogger Rui Chenggang (in Chinese) wrote about his discomfort with the juxtaposition of this Western cultural icon with one of the most iconic pieces of China’s history, the post got more than half a million page views.

According to the Journal, Rui wrote, “it is really too inappropriate for the world’s impression of the Forbidden City. This isn’t globalization, this is the erosion of Chinese culture.”

Other bloggers have joined Rui’s call for the Starbucks to be removed, and the Forbidden City museum is paying attention. They are currently in the process of reassigning the shops inside the City as part of an overall facelift for the campus. Starbucks may or may not be a part of that plan.

Any company that does business in China has to be aware of the phenomena that underlie this outcry. First and foremost, China is grappling with serious issues of tradition and modernity. Chinese people as a whole are embracing progress, but they are working hard to hang on to its own unique identity as a nation. This nationalist sentiment can often be found in the blogosphere, where China’s 20 million bloggers are more or less free to talk about their reaction to foreign business investment in their country.

Paying attention to the blogosphere is a necessity even when a company and the culture it serves are from the same culture of origin. But it goes doubly true when a company decides to cross cultural lines into wired countries like China.

If I were Starbucks, I would bow out gracefully from the location and open another store just outside the city. Then I would find a culturally appropriate way to tip the company’s cap to China’s past and present. What do you guys think Starbucks should do?

Our good buddy Jeremiah Owyang wrote about a reported incident in the press room at CES. Obviously, this is coming from a third-hand source, so keep that in mind when making judgments about the relative accuracy of the account. As Jeremiah tells it:

In one case, I heard that in the CES press room a discussion occurred where one blogger told another that they prefer to read blogs to get news, rather than traditional press.

A member of the traditional press got really upset, raised his voice, causing much of the table to look over, and he left in a furious stomp. It was suggested that he felt his job was threatened.

I understand why the mainstream media feels threatened by this new medium, but I don’t think their worries are credible in the long term. The blogosphere is a really nice compliment to traditional media, but it will never replace it.

As Shel Israel told me, CNN can embed an intrepid reporter with a group of soldiers in a combat zone. Political bloggers can be armchair warriors, but they can’t report directly what’s happening on the front lines. Yes, soldiers blogging gives us a perspective on the war. But soldiers are doing their job soldiering. That doesn’t leave them a lot of time to investigate and report the way a traditional journalist can.

I think in time, most reporters worth their salt will start their own blogs either for personal use, or to flesh out information about their recent work. Newspaper editors are always cutting fascinating pieces out of articles for space reasons or because the piece of the story in question is interesting but tangential. Those are the kinds of tidbits that journalist-bloggers would be uniquely poised to provide. It’s just another way that blogging adds value to the mainstream press without compromising it.

I just got back from the Bloghaus blogger lounge over at the Bellagio (or the “Blog-eo” as Steve and I call it). It’s pretty flippin’ sweet. If you want to read more about my impressions, check out TeresaCentric.

I’m going to sleep now, because we have an early flight. There’s lots to blog about tomorrow, including a wrap-up of all the wonderful people and photos from our party. See you in the blogosphere, everyone.

Our fabulous “It Won’t Stay in Vegas” Blogger Party is happening tonight. I’m really, really jazzed. Kim went over to the venue last night and said that it was spectacular.

We’ve got about 100 bloggers coming to the event (here’s a partial guest list) and we’re expecting a few walkups at the door. Apparently, the museum looks just like a set out of a James Bond movie.

I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to liveblog during the party, but if I do get a chance, I’ll report in on who’s there and who’s doing what to whom. There are a few bloggers I’ve been meaning to chat with about a few things….
And speaking of bloggers, Steve and I will be spending a hefty dose of time over at BlogHaus with our wonderful friends from PodTech. We hope to see all you bloggy types there.

As for CES, we’ll be making a brief appearance on the show floor to talk to our sponsors who are exhibiting: Broadclip, Monster Cable, and OQO. I hope we get around to the floor today, but if not we’ll be sure to meet up tomorrow. I’m excited to see what great gadgets they have and to find out in particular if they have anything that would be of interest to our inFlightHQ and Big Business Jet readers.

Just a note before I hit the conference floor and am overwhelmed by gadgety goodness, Retrevo is running a hot or not parody that pits gadgets from CES against gadgets from MacWorld. It’s worth checking out.

Steve and I got down here today and got ourselves registered as press. I’m excited to check out all the amazing gadgetry tomorrow and blog about it on inFlightHQ and Big Business Jet.

In other news, blogs are moving up in the world. Now, Google’s Blog Search is at the very top of their “more >>” drop down menu. You used to have to click through to “even more >>” to get to the blog search page. Cool stuff!

I just finished watching Robert Scoble’s interview with John Edwards on ScobleShow and I thought Edwards said something that was pretty important when it comes to business blogging.

Robert asked him whether he would maintain the same level of transparency once he was elected president. Edwards responded that he would, but that the big challenge would be piercing the bubble of security that “descends” around a president by way of the Secret Service and other mechanisms for keeping our nation’s leader safe from harm.

The same is true for anyone in a position of great power, and really for everyone. We all enclose ourselves in bubbles of one kind or another, and that tendency only becomes stronger as we gain power and prestige. For a very select few at the top, access becomes a privilege.

Among other things, the storied “democratization of media” allows us to pierce that bubble. It’s what gives geeks like Scoble the opportunity to ask hardball questions of a presidential candidate. In fact-and no, I’m not just kissing Scoble’s ass when I say this-the questions he asked Senator Edwards were better framed and delivered than any that I’ve heard a reporter ask a political figure in a long time. He cut right through the bullshit and got some straight answers out of a politician. I congratulate him for that.

Steve Rubel recently called for better behavior on the part of the blogosphere in 2007. “The world is watching us,” he wrote. “In 2007 our challenge, as bloggers, is to up our game. Let’s skip the name calling and the back and forth cat-fighting.”

I couldn’t agree more. Obviously spirited debates are lots of fun, but perhaps we should keep our blows above the waist.

My blogosphere golden rule is” “If you wouldn’t want it written about you, don’t write it about someone else. If you wouldn’t approve it in your comments section, don’t write it in someone else’s.”

Given the recent conversation in the blogosphere about information embargoes, I thought yesterday’s slip-up by the Edwards campaign was rather hilarious. Launching a presidential campaign website a day early was one heck of a way to break down the command and control barriers of a presidential campaign, even if it was an accident.

This time around, Edwards is making an effort to be a lot more authentic on the campaign trail. He wants people to see who he really is and not slip into the campaign shtick. He, his wife Elizabeth, and his daughter Cate are all blogging. In one post, Elizabeth joked about the fact that her husband isn’t handy around the house but that she’s sure her next one would be. That’s the kind of joke that American women make all the time, but you’d never expect to see a presidential candidate’s wife say. Even invoking the prospect of a less-than-perfect, real-world marriage is enough to send shivers down the collective spine of every campaign consultant in America. Good for them!

Robert Scoble is with the Edwards family in New Orleans right now and he’s been blogging away about his presence there as a journalist. It’s pretty cool that Edwards is reaching out to the blogosphere through Robert, although it’s a little funny since Robert’s not really a political blogger. This sort of reminds me of when Richard Edelman chose to reach out to the blogosphere via Robert in the aftermath of the Wal-blog scandal.

I wonder what this means for the blogosphere. As much as I like and admire Robert, he is just one (very geeky) man. His notoriety has made him a natural starting point for anyone who wants to engage the blogosphere. But I hope it won’t always be that way.

I think we’re seeing a step in the evolution of the blogosphere and its relationship to the rest of the world. As blogs, blogging and blog technologies become more widespread, perhaps we’ll see less focus on one entry point for getting the blogosphere’s attention. I think this is what Robert means when he talks about paying more attention to the z-list.

Keep in mind that I’m not criticizing Robert or Sen. Edwards on this, just making an observation.

I know I’m late to the game on this one. There’s only so much blogging a girl can do when she’s frantically preparing for an upcoming blogger extravaganza.

But despite my tardiness to post about it, I’m pretty pleased that we’re moving toward a best practice of full disclosure. Honestly, I don’t see it hurting advertisers one bit. When we take bloggers on junkets, we’re pretty much fine with however they want to explain how they got to go wine tasting, etc. for free.

That said, there is a bit of a gap between giving a blogger something for free and asking him to write his honest opinion and paying him cash to write about something. Readers will have to make up their own minds about where the trustworthiness line gets drawn. Disclosing the motivation and origin of a post of this nature gives them the tools they need to make up their own minds.

KUOW is doing a call-in show about social media from 1:00pm to 2:00pm P.S.T. If you’re in the Seattle area, it’s 94.9 FM. or you can listen online. If you want to call in and talk to Ross, the number is 1-800-289-5869.

Ross asked whether the blogosphere and social media were just evolutionary, a so-called “CB Radio for the 21st Century.” I called in and made the argument that while many people currently use it like CB Radio, the technology of social media is revolutionary.

If you have time, jump in and listen to the conversation, or you can download the podcast (iTunes) later on.

Update: You can now listen to the whole podcast here. It is the KUOW recording, which I downloaded from their site. The only reason I’m hosting it here is so that the link won’t break if they move it or take it down. All due props and credit to KUOW, Ross Reynolds and The Conversation.