I had a good time yesterday at Supernova, but it seemed that one of
the points I made on our
panel caused some consternation among some listeners, so let's
look at it.
I had heard a certain amount of what I thought was wildly
overoptimistic forecasting of the widespread adoption of blogging as a
tool in corporate America. For instance, Tim Bray said: "Any
corporation that doesn't do this in the future is going to be playing
catch-up. They can use the technology to make the enterprise provide a
more human face to world." (I copied this quote from a trade journal
article on the conference and promptly lost the URL. Sorry. I wasn't
taking notes myself so if it's wrong, apologies in advance.)
I agree with Tim and the other optimists that blogging can
give enterprises a more human face. But will they let it? What I said
yesterday is that I thought the successes to date in public blogging
by software developers at places like Microsoft and Sun weren't likely
to be duplicated in other, more traditional corporations any time
soon. Software professionals are relatively unique in feeling that (a)
their talents are in demand and (b) if they get fired from one job
they can probably (except maybe at the very bottom of an economic
cycle) get another one pretty easily. In other words, they feel more
empowered to spout off on their blogs without fearing for their
livelihood than the typical American worker does.
I'm not sure why, but Tim seemed to take this comment to mean that
I thought that people in other fields -- I think he mentioned
construction, it's hard to remember -- wouldn't succeed as bloggers
because they're "not as interesting." Of course, that's not what I
said, and it's precisely the opposite of what I think. Everyone has
stories to tell, and everyone's stories are worth telling:
that's a credo of the digital storytelling movement that I've been
involved with for a decade now.
The stories that programmers are telling in the current explosion
of blogs have given their work a vital new visibility; as developers
tell their stories to each other, creating a pool of technical,
practical and philosophical knowledge, they are also giving the public
a new and fascinating window onto their discipline. (I'm as aware of
this as anyone -- my work on my book
is infinitely easier thanks to the profusion of programming blogs.)
Do I think it would be a Good Thing for this pattern to be
duplicated in other fields? Of course -- and it's happening in some,
predictably in those areas where individual professionals have a
tradition of independence (the legal world, academia).
But the utopian vision of blogging somehow flattening corporate
hierarchies and allowing Cluetrain-like voices of authenticity to
trumpet forth from every Fortune 500 headquarters? Maybe it's possible
on the sort of time scale that Supernova keynoter Tom Malone talked
about -- from hunter-gatherers to agriculture, that sort of thing. But
I don't think it's going to happen in our lifetimes.
I'm sorry to be the pessimist at the party. But for large numbers
of workers in America, particularly those at big companies, the
dominant fact of life remains don't piss off your boss. And, in
an era of health-insurance lock-in and easy outsourcing and
offshoring, many U.S. workers remain doubtful that they can simply
waltz into a new job should their activities displease the current
hierarchy to which they report. So the odds of them feeling at ease
publishing honest Web sites about their work lives are extremely poor.
The blogs you're going to see from within most traditional companies
will be either uninformative snoozes or desperate attempts at
butt-covering and -kissing. Not because people don't have great
stories to tell -- but because telling the truth has too high a cost.
Someone at Supernova got up and said that he worked in investment
banking and thought it was a field that was ripe for blogging. No
doubt! I'm assuming that your typical investment banker has managed to
sock away some private unemployment insurance cash (also known in some
industries as "fuck you" money, something Dick Cheney apparently has in abundance).
For those with such resources, blog on! For those lucky enough to
work for a company that says "blog on" and means it, cherish
your luck. But for most of the rest of the working population, the
blogging revolution will be happening in some other office.
The Right Taps Blogs for Bucks08/09/2004 05:33 AM Conservative bloggers try to replicate the fund-raising and organizing
success of left-leaning sites by setting up RedState.org. Not that the
Republican Party needs any fund-raising help, progressives retort. By
Louise Witt.
Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns02/18/2004 07:51 AM A Democratic candidate buys $2,000 of advertising on a blog and gets
$80,000 in campaign donations in two weeks. Was it a fluke, or the
beginning of a new campaign cash cow? By Chris Ulbrich.
Wired News: Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Wired News: Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns02/18/2004 09:22 PM Blogs - Where The Money and Political Activists Are .. It's that thing
that brings in money .. Blogs pump bucks into campaigns .. Wired
News
wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,62325,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1 track
this site | 5 links
How They Get the Big Bucks11/18/2003 12:16 AM For a thin-client deployment that's not going well, this IT shop
brings in some highly paid consultants. Fish notices that one of them
of them appears to be taking notes on everything that's said or done,
using a handheld computer ...
The big bucks
The big bucks05/13/2004 03:31 AM USA Today May 13 2004 7:11AM GMT
Boston.com / News / Blogs / David Weinberger bl0gs the Democratic National Convention on Boston.com: Blogging crosses over
boston.com/news/blogs/dnc/2004/07/blogging_crosse.html track
this site | 3 links
Former Mitsubishi bosses arrested
Former Mitsubishi bosses arrested05/06/2004 06:00 AM Japanese police arrest seven former Mitsubishi executives on suspicion
of falsifying reports into a fatal fault.
Dennis Hamilton shares his experience with launching a blog
behind the corporate firewall, and suggests parameters that focus on
content value to ensure its successful implementation. This is an
feature article appearing in the March edition of Sabrina I.
Pacifici's LLRX.com.
Reading bl0gs, writing bl0gs
Reading bl0gs, writing bl0gs06/06/2004 06:45 PM Kansas City Star (subscription),MO-9 hours ago• BlogPulse.com offers a
blog search engine. Just type in keywords of interest. Or use Google
to search for “blog” and keywords of interest. ...
BEA Systems Bucks Up
BEA Systems Bucks Up08/13/2004 02:15 PM The software company's stock rises on improved second-quarter numbers.
Are bosses wise to open source use?07/16/2004 11:43 AM General industry estimates on the use of open source software in some
fashion or another ranges from about half to even 90 percent of
companies with significant programming staffs. But how often the boss
knows about it, or perhaps more importantly: How often open source
gets the proper review is a far lower figure.
Shell bosses 'fooled the market'04/19/2004 04:25 PM A damning internal report into the reserves scandal at Shell says it
deliberately hid its oil and gas shortfalls as far back as 2001.
Stress afflicts security bosses
Stress afflicts security bosses03/17/2005 03:39 AM A survey shows technology bosses have misplaced confidence in their
company security systems.
Police quit jobs over bad bosses05/06/2004 08:14 PM Four-fifths of police officers who quit their job blame poor
management for their choice, a Home Office study finds.
Firefighter bosses offer new plan05/20/2004 01:07 PM Fire Service bosses say they have new proposals to resolve a dispute
that has led to unofficial action.
IT bosses are storage addicts who can't stop themselves
Calls for Alitalia bosses to quit05/06/2004 11:40 AM Italy's authorities call for Alitalia's chairman and CEO to step down
as part of a plan to shore up the ailing airline.
Brainstorming how you can sell NetWare 6.5 to your bosses
Brainstorming how you can sell NetWare 6.5 to your bosses05/27/2004 04:48 AM One of the new features of NetWare 6.5, and which is also part of
Nterprise Linux Services and slated to be in Open Enterprise Server,
is Virtual Office. Many of the elements of Virtual Office, such as
iFolder, iPrint, eGuide and more, aren't new in themselves but the
"office" metaphor as well as the user interface is new. All that makes
working with these interesting and useful technologies easier for your
non-techie users (and isn't that most of them?).
Bosses Keep Sharp Eye on Mobile Workers (AP)
Bosses Keep Sharp Eye on Mobile Workers (AP)12/29/2004 10:12 PM AP - Ciro Viento commands a platoon of 110 garbage trucks, so when a
caller complained after seeing one of the blue and white trash tanks
speeding down Route 22, Viento didn't know which driver to blame.
Until he checked his computer.
Dollar Tree Bucks Up
Dollar Tree Bucks Up05/27/2004 01:55 PM Dollar Tree had a pretty good quarter. But will steep gas prices alter
its outlook?
Pistons Mow Down Bucks 108-82 in Game 1 (AP)
Pistons Mow Down Bucks 108-82 in Game 1 (AP)04/18/2004 04:27 PM AP - One of the best defenses in NBA history shut down the highest
scoring team in the Eastern Conference. Richard Hamilton scored 21
points and the Detroit Pistons set a team playoff record with 14
steals in a 108-82 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday in Game
1 of their first-round series. Grok Description matches for Blogs, bosses and bucks GrokA matches for Blogs, bosses and bucks
Blogs, bosses and bucks
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