About Social Media Today
The power of the pen has never been more important than in the millennium. Bloggers are everywhere and their influence is growing daily at the speed of the Internet. Think about this for a minute, the new Harry Potter theme park was announced through a secret mid night introduction to a handful of the world’s most popular Harry Potter bloggers. Somewhere around 20 million people learned about the new park through their social media peer groups and ecosystems, amazing.
These days it seems like everyone in certain demographic groups thinks they are a blogger, I would fathom to say in some cases they are not. Many companies have assembled swat teams of “brand protectors” that watch and engage with rogue bloggers that attack their company, products, and services and even in some cases employees. There are also many excellent bloggers that regularly share views and analysis that reflect great depth and knowledge of their areas, but blogging is just on channel of their voice. These are the bloggers to follow they only speak in one voice.
The Element of Trust
The ultimate question is does the blogger you are following really have the depth of knowledge and experience in their industry, and more importantly can you trust it? Trust is the foundation of value in all groups of people and without it there is no sustainability to the group or its information. Thought leadership is built on the hallmark of trusting that the information is accurate, the vision practical and the source credible and this in enforced in the academic world. What surprises me is the lack of academic professor’s blogging and the limitations put on traditional analysts by their parent firms and the inability of financial analysts to share information is highly regulated by the GOV. Many financial analysts simply can’t blog because of regulation.
One of the few academics, who has built his house on a rock and also blogs is Andrew McAfee of MIT, Andrew, along with myself are great Red Sox fans. What I like about his research is that it is built on a solid rock of data and in my view he has proven beyond a doubt the IT matters.
The Business Impact of IT
http://www.duchamphotel.com/hotel_site/index.htm
Let’s take a look at blogging code today for example, we now have so called “expert bloggers and expert blogging communities,” check out this headline from Fast Company: Carbon Accounting Software Market Experiencing Huge Period of Growth BY FC EXPERT BLOGGER TRACEY DE MORSELLA Today This blog is written by a member of our expert blogging community and expresses that expert's views alone.
In this scenario the expert blogging community is established by a media channel, Fast Company, my question to you is can we trust a media channel, magazine or whatever you want to call it, to select and manage a blogging community that delivers trustworthy information?
On Wikipedia I found what I would call a primitive Bloggers Code, I don’t know what trolls are, I never keep my sources private, I think once and post, I take action against attacks and I always take responsibility for my own words, actions. This all seems very immature to me in many ways, what do you think?
Create your own code by selecting the modules you want:
- Responsibility for our own words
- Nothing we wouldn't say in person
- Connect privately first
- Take action against attacks
- a) No anonymous comments OR b) No pseudonymous comments
- Ignore the trolls
- Encourage enforcement of terms of service
- Keep our sources private
- Discretion to delete comments
- Do no harm
- Think twice - post once
I follow these guidelines which were created last weekend, I wish more bloggers would.
A Professional Bloggers Code
- Bloggers have a duty to provide valuable insights into the current affairs of their ecosystem.
- Bloggers will not create spectrums of negativity and hate amongst the social media peer groups they influence and reward everyone fairly.
- Bloggers will not gamble with a person, organization or company’s brand by unfairly interfering in the business of business and damage the reputation of others, organizations, companies and their products and services.
- Bloggers know when it is time to move on, avoid obsolete information, their mantra is to obsolete information.
- Bloggers are not self appointed gurus, their ship is built on a foundation of experience, intelligence, honesty and integrity and they keep their mind sharp.
- Bloggers know who they are and not everyone is a blogger.
- Bloggers stick to their guns and don’t waver in their analysis.
- Bloggers don’t attack other bloggers with unfounded and inaccurate information and analysis.
- Bloggers know the challenge is the next blog and accept the creativity and innovation required to command respect.
- Bloggers know how to share the prize.
Bloggers blow their horns in many ways and blogging is just one channel of influence.
Those of us that have studied pirate history know that the “Pirate code” was a prevailing wind of justice in their society, on board vessels and land. I have been a big fan of Pirates and studying their history has been fascinating indeed. Today I present to you the Pirate Code and my reference is Angus Konstam’s wonderful new book The World Atlas of Pirates, from page 173:
- Every man has a vote in the affairs of the moment.
- Every man to be called fairly in rum.
- No person to game at cards for dice and money.
- The lights and candles to be put out a eight o’clock at night.
- To keep their piece, pistols and cutlass clean.
- No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them.
- To desert their ship or quarters in battle.
- No striking another on board.
- No man to talk of breaking up their way of living.
- The captain and quartermaster to receive two share of the prize.
- The musicians have to rest on the day of the Sabbath.
I hope you enjoy this month’s post as I have been thinking about it for some time, and until next time I wish you great selling and marketing in the millennium.
