This Forbes article is raising all kinds of hell among bloggers.

It shouldn’t. All it proves is that blogging is above the heads of Forbes generally, and Daniel Lyons specifically. They just don’t get it. Big deal. Live and let live, I say. We’ll find out soon enough who’s right: Forbes and Lyons, or millions of bloggers (who, it should be noted, since Forbes is all about the money, also happen to collectively buy an awful lot of stuff).

This is simply a case of misinformed preaching to the choir. The alarmist tone of the article (blogs are “the ultimate vehicle for brand-bashing, personal attacks, political extremism and smear campaigns.” Flee! Flee!) is speaking to a specific audience that would prefer to myopically view blogging as a passing fad, not a communications sea change that needs to be at least acknowledged and at best embraced.

What “specific audience” do I mean? Quite simply, companies that want to control any and all information about themselves that exists in the public realm. Because the blogs don’t play the old media game, they’re “more of a threat than people realize.” (Quick, get the duct tape and plastic sheeting!)

Fundamentally, blogs are about passion and honesty, not blood sport and extremism. Companies that communicate their unique passions with honesty and openness, that deal with the public in a human way, and that hold to these principles over time, are the ones that will thrive in the (for the record, I despise this word) blogosphere.

Shouldn’t this be old news by now?

[Edit: Dave Taylor has an excellent post about this article here.]

Takeaway for marketers: When the Emperor’s butt is flapping in the breeze, bloggers will be the first ones to say so. Ignore them — or insist that the Emperor’s pants are divine — at your peril.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 5th, 2005 at 12:01 am and is filed under Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways.