DaimlerChrysler drove off the cliff today when they launched their new blog, “TheFireHouse.Biz.” This is to be their company engine for information and commentary aimed at the media. The Chrysler Group Media Blog is what they call it. The problem though, is that regular bloggers of any kind can’t get into it.
Once again, a nod to B.L. Ochman for this story idea. She does have a great blog. Anyway, most people who follow blogs know they can be a facetious lot that don’t require much prodding and Chrysler just prodded them pretty good. It seems this blog is reserved for “legitimate media” only and one must actually fill out information to get in. At the time of this writing, no response had come back yet.
This particular PR move is a bit of a blunder on the part of DaimlerChrysler. Most companies use blogs to communicate information and ideas and sometimes solicit feedback but they rarely if ever eliminate large swaths of people based on something like that. Most communications people know that communication must be two-way. The only possible explanation is this blog won’t be much more than press releases.
The other issue is that there is no hard, fast definition for a blog in many cases. Many sights, considered legitimate news sites with high levels of traffic also qualify as a blog. How about the “Drudge Report” or “Huff Post?” Most would argue those sites are blogs but many also see them as news sources with some editorials thrown in but they are certainly legitimate. Search Engine Watch might just fall into the blog category, but there are few places on the web with such insightful coverage on the search engine world.
In the end, it goes to show not only the power of the blog as a medium but also the corporate world’s misunderstand of that medium. Some realize and utilize the power of it but until some companies make changes, they will be lagging and lacking in their complete media package.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
