New Media and Politics: Bloggers are Killing the Message is the presentation for our local IABC branch's August luncheon. I haven't seen the presentation yet so I'll refrain from criticizing too harshly. I'll just say that if in fact bloggers are killing "the message" then good riddance and thank you bloggers.
Again, I haven't seen the presentation yet but I'm assuming that by "message" the presenter means a carefully crafted campaign of very limited information that flows only one way. Simply put the marketer tells the audience what he wants us to know and we're supposed to be happy to get it. Our only response to the message should be to either buy the product or vote for the politician the message is telling us to. Bloggers don't play that game. Bloggers dig (and digg) deeper than the press releases or news articles they've been handed. Bloggers say when they disagree with political or business decisions. Bloggers say what they think but more importantly blog readers get to say what they think as well. A blogger posts, commenters respond and many people are participating in a two-way conversation.
The fundamental truth that people complaining about blogs killing the message don't want to hear is this: We don't want the message. We want real information, real conversation, real discussion, real communication with actual humans. Press releases and carefully crafted "messages" from nameless, faceless drones will never inspire the same impact and interest that blog posts and other social media channels provide. The audience knows that. Bloggers aren't killing the message they're giving the audience a choice they've never had before. And when the choice is between your message and information combined with human voices and opinions, well, your message is going to lose every time. No matter what your message is, we've seen it before, and we don't want it again.
Again, I haven't seen the presentation yet but I'm assuming that by "message" the presenter means a carefully crafted campaign of very limited information that flows only one way. Simply put the marketer tells the audience what he wants us to know and we're supposed to be happy to get it. Our only response to the message should be to either buy the product or vote for the politician the message is telling us to. Bloggers don't play that game. Bloggers dig (and digg) deeper than the press releases or news articles they've been handed. Bloggers say when they disagree with political or business decisions. Bloggers say what they think but more importantly blog readers get to say what they think as well. A blogger posts, commenters respond and many people are participating in a two-way conversation.
The fundamental truth that people complaining about blogs killing the message don't want to hear is this: We don't want the message. We want real information, real conversation, real discussion, real communication with actual humans. Press releases and carefully crafted "messages" from nameless, faceless drones will never inspire the same impact and interest that blog posts and other social media channels provide. The audience knows that. Bloggers aren't killing the message they're giving the audience a choice they've never had before. And when the choice is between your message and information combined with human voices and opinions, well, your message is going to lose every time. No matter what your message is, we've seen it before, and we don't want it again.
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