The 'Sphere Grows Smaller (and more private).

While I've always looked at the BIG ol' blogosphere as a series of small networks, we may be trending even smaller...and more controlled.

Take Six Apart's new "personal blogging service" VOX, launched officially in late October. According to VOX: "Putting material online used to mean putting it up for anyone to see, search, criticize, record, or repurpose. Not anymore. With Vox, you can choose the privacy level for every post, every picture, every sound clip, every video. Put up posts for the world. Put up posts for just your family. Or just your friends. You can control everything."

Or take all the internal blogs that Paul Gillin penned about in his recent "unseen blogosphere" column for BtoB Magazine. According to Gillin: "IBM Corp. has more than 3,000 internal blogs. Procter & Gamble Co. has about 100 internal blogs and is expanding their use to private communications with business partners. Talk to companies that sell blogging software and they'll tell you that most of their corporate business is internal. It's not that big businesses don't "get" blogging; they just don't see a compelling need to do it in public."

Control is key with VOX, or I should say control is key with VOX's users. Control is also key with companies. Between family photos and proprietary corporate information, I understand the desire for confidential communications (but I do advocate that brand and R&D initiatives should invite public involvement).

The sweet spot then, for both of these consumer and corporate segments is that blogging is a superior alternative to e-mail--but only when conducted privately.  So maybe internal and "invite-only" blogs will be a small step to braver, open blogs. Or maybe, just as with websites, intranets and extranets, the blogposphere will continue to grow smaller as it gets bigger.

Comments

[Mario Vellandi]

Great piece CK! I've been getting tired of reading on public blogging and have been eager to find stories or case studies of blog/discussion tools for private use, so I can whip up ideas for my small business clients.

[CK]

Mario: Check out the article by Paul Gillin I link to above. I can see the benefit in using "private" blogs for some processes that may not be able to be broadcast at large--or for getting companies comfortable with blogging. That VOX softare is free, btw.

On the flip side, when it comes to launching and managing products and services (both old and new) there are countless points of value for vetting customer feedback. Some co's are still gunshy here but "going public" enables you real-time and really honest feedback before making huge capital investments. Good luck with your clients :-).

[gianandrea facchini]

ck, i would add that private blog does increase the feeling of community, it helps in detecting talents, in finding and nurturing new ideas.
a wise way to use blog to share the company culture and to sell it internally.
one of the key point issued in several posts is that happy employees make happy customers.

[CK]

G: Great point on the "community" aspect--and yes on selling blogging internally. I've been using a few different tactics with enabling clients to start blogging. Using an internal system is a great facilitator.

Thanks for all your tremendous feedback--and in a second language, no less!

[Lewis Green]

CK,

It's the same story as told by the Intranet and the Internet. Corporate communications when done well are always done best internally. And, of course, external communications are reserved for products, services and brand building.

[V-+a%S(p#E*rsT=`hE..]gra_Te[]

The "blogosphere" as generally understood does not include internal corporate blogs, but usually refers to public blogs.

Password-protected, limited audience digital journals have existed, probably from the beginning, in 1992. In this realm, the blog is used for company updates, project collaborations, and internal communications of sensitive nature.

For a company to "not see a reason" to have a public blog, especially by the CEO, is still a rather stupid position to take, in my opinion.

I'm reading right now the book "Big Blues: the Unmaking of IBM" and so this attitude is in keeping with IBM's nightmare bureaucracy, legal paranoia, and insular arrogance...which is why they dropped the ball with PCs.

Microsoft uses public blogs, especially the former Scoble guy and his The Red Couch and Scobleizer when Robert was still at MS. And MS is far more successful and rich than IBM.

I don't say a company MUST blog. In fact I prefer that most companies NOT blog, unless they're prepared to be candid, invite comments, be commenting on other relevant blogs, etc.

[Tim Jackson]

I guess I've never seen the use of internal blogs before now. I can see how they would help to spread commnications to a broader audience more quickly than yet another email from HR or some other group. I guess that I haven't really related to that since I've only ever worked for much smaller companies.

Still, I do think that the external blog is where the action is. I'd rather see a company get better and be more effective at internal communications via their email or other internal devices and use the blog for external purposes. Maybe it's just because of my small business backgruond and my naievete... or just that I'm wrong.

[Lewis Green]

Tim,

I think you are right. The intranet, e-mail that comes regularly and from the same mail box, and voice mail are the best ways to communicate internally.

Externally, blogs are good but traditional marketing tools, I think, are better because you can segment your audiences and deliver targeted and customer-focused messaging.