Must A Filter The Comments To Its Blog, If Your Corporate Choose To Produce A Blog Concerning Its Business?

[eadelmarr]

It'd be handy to filter some comments that may influence in an adverse way the status of the organization?

[edin]

Certainly. A corporate internet site nearly ought to have comments are authorized by a moderator Mine does. Amongst our receptionists' function would be to examine responses and accept/refuse them every morning. Resources: My answer awarulz 79 weeks previously Please register to give a supplement. Please confirm your account to provide a supplement. Please register to provide a note. Please confirm your account to provide a message.

[Cidro]

I'm a very strong proponent of free speech, but that doesn't mean I want people coming to my house and putting up signs that mock, insult or ridicule me. Any entity that is unwilling to stand up to a certain amount of criticism and which tries to prevent the free exchange of ideas and information is ultimately hurting itself and everyone it relates to. But that doesn't mean it should put up with any kind of abuse. So from a corporation's standpoint, I feel they have every right to decide what can and what should appear on their blog. Therefore, some filtering is perfectly acceptable and appropriate. Anything that is offensive or potentially injurious to the corporation or to its customers is not something they need to keep on their blog in the service of free speech. But they would be foolish to take down every point of view that doesn't precisely match up with the corporate line. No one will take their blog seriously if they do that. Some judicious filtering is reasonable, proper, and smart. As long as they don't go overboard, they should do it. But if they do too much, they're probably hurting themselves more than helping.My two cents.

[Lauro]

Ours does. One of our receptionists' job is to read comments and approve/deny them every morning.

[Jurre]

Filtering negative or critical comments will risk the open communication... ...provided by the blog format AND might keep the company from knowing important customer concerns that need to be addressed. Instead of filtering them, you should address the negative concerns quickly, thoroughly, openly, calmly and knowledgeably.BACKGROUNDSome companies are hesitant to plunge into the ?scary? world of blogging for fear of encountering legal and business risks inherent in blogging such as libel, slander, lawsuits and disclosure of confidential and proprietary information.Microsoft, IBM, Sun Microsystems and General Motors, to name a few, have dived headlong into corporate blogging. These companies recognize that a blog is an immensely effective yet low cost way to boost corporate communications and marketing objectives and at the same time connect with customers and prospects.Understand that a blog is not a miracle cure. It will not single-handedly turn your distressed company around. Corporate blogging should be incorporated with other marketing and communication tools to achieve desired results.-----------------------------------------Functions and Benefits of a Corporate Blog:To make it easy for customers or prospects to find the latest and most accurate information about the company and its new products and services. To help achieve customer familiarity with the company products or services. To build trust and customer relationships by offering open and equal two-way communication between company and clients.To allow a company to closely track where and under what condition its products or services are being discussed online so the company can speak up when negative comments surface and offer new products that customers seem to need. To give an eager, passionate and friendly human face to a perceived faceless and detached business entity, which both makes it less likely a company will be "slammed" online and more likely that customers will feel postively about the company and its products. -----------------------------------------Some Dos and Don?ts of Corporate Blogging.DO consider whether your company needs a corporate blog. Not all corporate cultures can tolerate the open, direct communication inherent to make a corporate blog successful. There are instances where blogs could not be reconciled with business practices and regulations. Risks lie mainly in the content and the character or tone of comments which admittedly can only be censored to a limited degree.DO pick the right person to run your blog.The ideal corporate blogger is an expert in his field who can write with passion and sincerity, who is respected by his peers, and who reacts calmly to outbursts. The object of your blog is to engage your customers and prospects in conversation and the most effective way to start a conversation is to be sincere and honest in your blog while writing about topics that are important to your company. Blogging is an intense medium. The individuals who will blog for your company should be the ones who can keep their cool despite critical comments. DO create your blog with specific goals in mind, be clear about the goals, and evaluate how well you are meeting the goals. Some of these goals may be to increase company credibility, enhance customer service and interaction, and give customers a peek of the behind-the-scenes ?feel? of the corporate culture, showcase new products or services and more. The important thing is to be clear about your goals. You have to be sure about what you are trying to get done and stick to them. As with any corporate undertaking, you also need to periodically evaluate how well you are meeting these goals. If blogging is proving to be futile, then make changes. If it still does not work, then discontinue blogging.DO find out what the audience for your blog cares about, wants and needsTake time to know your customers or prospects. Identify what their needs are and what service you can perform for them. To get their attention, work out a way to participate in a conversation credibly. To be credible, come up with worthwhile content ? ideas, insights, news and information. Content need not be long but should be interesting. DO stay on topic or in your chosen categories in your blog.A corporate blog should not veer away from its chosen categories or topics. This is not to say you cannot be personal in your blog posts because you should, but the audience you are trying to connect with do not want to read through your blog if it is injected with a litany of personal rumblings.DO engage your audience in lively and substantial conversations. Read what they say and reply to their comments in a professional and businesslike manner whether the comment is positive or negative. Allowing comments from your audience will definitely mean some complaints and criticisms. Don?t take them personally. Respond honestly and your company credibility will rise. Allowing audience to make comments is a distinct characteristic of blogs. Openness is important for successful blogging. That said, use a feedback filter or comment moderation to monitor and control comments and delete comment spam(useless comments).DO update frequently and consistently and include plenty of links. Post regularly, daily or weekly, at least, and be generous with your links. Linking is one reason why blogging has become a popular online communication medium. The best corporate blogs, more often than not, have lots of links in each blog post.DO devise a clear set of enforceable corporate blogging policies. Set limits on what information can be made public. Make clear what is allowed and what is not. Legal issues crop up in blogging. It is better to have some safety nets. In drafting blogging policies, it is advisable to do some research on it and publish proposed policies to get some feedback.DO NOT close down existing employee blogs. More often than not, an employee is already writing a blog. It might be full of grievances about the recent spate of oil increases or it could be snapshots of a relaxing vacation in the Maldives. Engage this employee blogger in a dialogue about what your corporate blog aims to achieve and get them involved. Don?t keep your corporate bloggers anonymous or hidden behind some make-believe characters. The audience will know and it will have detrimental effects. Sources: http://acidace.blogspot.com/2006/11/corporate-blogging-dos-and-donts.html darwin? 79 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Reynardo]

Since your question is should they do it, then I'd have to say yes I'm a very strong proponent of free speech, but that doesn't mean I want people coming to my house and putting up signs that mock, insult or ridicule me. Any entity that is unwilling to stand up to a certain amount of criticism and which tries to prevent the free exchange of ideas and information is ultimately hurting itself and everyone it relates to. But that doesn't mean it should put up with any kind of abuse. So from a corporation's standpoint, I feel they have every right to decide what can and what should appear on their blog. Therefore, some filtering is perfectly acceptable and appropriate. Anything that is offensive or potentially injurious to the corporation or to its customers is not something they need to keep on their blog in the service of free speech. But they would be foolish to take down every point of view that doesn't precisely match up with the corporate line. No one will take their blog seriously if they do that. Some judicious filtering is reasonable, proper, and smart. As long as they don't go overboard, they should do it. But if they do too much, they're probably hurting themselves more than helping.My two cents. Sources: My Opinion EddieNygma 79 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Bryten]

...provided by the blog format AND might keep the company from knowing important customer concerns that need to be addressed. Instead of filtering them, you should address the negative concerns quickly, thoroughly, openly, calmly and knowledgeably.BACKGROUNDSome companies are hesitant to plunge into the ?scary? world of blogging for fear of encountering legal and business risks inherent in blogging such as libel, slander, lawsuits and disclosure of confidential and proprietary information.Microsoft, IBM, Sun Microsystems and General Motors, to name a few, have dived headlong into corporate blogging. These companies recognize that a blog is an immensely effective yet low cost way to boost corporate communications and marketing objectives and at the same time connect with customers and prospects.Understand that a blog is not a miracle cure. It will not single-handedly turn your distressed company around. Corporate blogging should be incorporated with other marketing and communication tools to achieve desired results.-----------------------------------------Functions and Benefits of a Corporate Blog:To make it easy for customers or prospects to find the latest and most accurate information about the company and its new products and services. To help achieve customer familiarity with the company products or services. To build trust and customer relationships by offering open and equal two-way communication between company and clients.To allow a company to closely track where and under what condition its products or services are being discussed online so the company can speak up when negative comments surface and offer new products that customers seem to need. To give an eager, passionate and friendly human face to a perceived faceless and detached business entity, which both makes it less likely a company will be "slammed" online and more likely that customers will feel postively about the company and its products. -----------------------------------------Some Dos and Don?ts of Corporate Blogging.DO consider whether your company needs a corporate blog. Not all corporate cultures can tolerate the open, direct communication inherent to make a corporate blog successful. There are instances where blogs could not be reconciled with business practices and regulations. Risks lie mainly in the content and the character or tone of comments which admittedly can only be censored to a limited degree.DO pick the right person to run your blog.The ideal corporate blogger is an expert in his field who can write with passion and sincerity, who is respected by his peers, and who reacts calmly to outbursts. The object of your blog is to engage your customers and prospects in conversation and the most effective way to start a conversation is to be sincere and honest in your blog while writing about topics that are important to your company. Blogging is an intense medium. The individuals who will blog for your company should be the ones who can keep their cool despite critical comments. DO create your blog with specific goals in mind, be clear about the goals, and evaluate how well you are meeting the goals. Some of these goals may be to increase company credibility, enhance customer service and interaction, and give customers a peek of the behind-the-scenes ?feel? of the corporate culture, showcase new products or services and more. The important thing is to be clear about your goals. You have to be sure about what you are trying to get done and stick to them. As with any corporate undertaking, you also need to periodically evaluate how well you are meeting these goals. If blogging is proving to be futile, then make changes. If it still does not work, then discontinue blogging.DO find out what the audience for your blog cares about, wants and needsTake time to know your customers or prospects. Identify what their needs are and what service you can perform for them. To get their attention, work out a way to participate in a conversation credibly. To be credible, come up with worthwhile content ? ideas, insights, news and information. Content need not be long but should be interesting. DO stay on topic or in your chosen categories in your blog.A corporate blog should not veer away from its chosen categories or topics. This is not to say you cannot be personal in your blog posts because you should, but the audience you are trying to connect with do not want to read through your blog if it is injected with a litany of personal rumblings.DO engage your audience in lively and substantial conversations. Read what they say and reply to their comments in a professional and businesslike manner whether the comment is positive or negative. Allowing comments from your audience will definitely mean some complaints and criticisms. Don?t take them personally. Respond honestly and your company credibility will rise. Allowing audience to make comments is a distinct characteristic of blogs. Openness is important for successful blogging. That said, use a feedback filter or comment moderation to monitor and control comments and delete comment spam(useless comments).DO update frequently and consistently and include plenty of links. Post regularly, daily or weekly, at least, and be generous with your links. Linking is one reason why blogging has become a popular online communication medium. The best corporate blogs, more often than not, have lots of links in each blog post.DO devise a clear set of enforceable corporate blogging policies. Set limits on what information can be made public. Make clear what is allowed and what is not. Legal issues crop up in blogging. It is better to have some safety nets. In drafting blogging policies, it is advisable to do some research on it and publish proposed policies to get some feedback.DO NOT close down existing employee blogs. More often than not, an employee is already writing a blog. It might be full of grievances about the recent spate of oil increases or it could be snapshots of a relaxing vacation in the Maldives. Engage this employee blogger in a dialogue about what your corporate blog aims to achieve and get them involved. Don?t keep your corporate bloggers anonymous or hidden behind some make-believe characters. The audience will know and it will have detrimental effects.