From the Virtual Playground to the Marketplace

So states the Cluetrain Manifesto.  A decisively atypical business “book” (it was originally published online), the Manifesto is written in multiple voices by multiple authors, yet it is unified under a common theme: the search for REAL conversation and voice via the Internet. This theme is reflected in not only the Manifesto’s content, but through its structure (multiple authors with unique voices) and the use of the Internet as its original vehicle (a website).

Yet despite the Cluetrain’s Manifesto’s exaltation of all things online, it does not take full advantage of its online format.  While it is available online in its original version, it lacks updates on the more recent web trends, like social media and social networking. The core ideas behind newer platforms, like facebook and MySpace are addressed, yet the outdated references to Usenet and email lists as primary communication are a bit distracting.

However, the Manifesto’s basic premise that today’s Internet is a descendant or at least a symbol of the marketplace or Agora of the past is even more relevant in the wake of the social media explosion.  Like the ancient marketplace, people use facebook, YouTube and Twitter for conversation and human interaction. The web provides a place where customers are not labeled consumers and businesses don’t have to be bureaucracies.

Much like Matt Bai’s discovery in The Argument, the Manifesto points out the benefits of building from the bottom up as opposed to the old top down model. Instead of examining the influence of the Internet on campaigns, the Manifesto explores how the web is leading to the dissolution of the façade surrounding corporate hierarchy. The Manifesto frequently asserts that “imposed infrastructures hinder more than help” and that  “most so-called empowerment initiatives are embarrassingly paternalistic, to the point of backfiring entirely.”

Inevitably, our heightened awareness of distinct, individual voices engenders the urge to talk back, to engage, to converse. In a crisis communication course, I once read a piece called Blogger in Their Midst.doc, which examined the complex issue of a worker who took it upon herself to blog, unbeknownst to the company CEO, about the company’s products and practices.  While much of her writing was flattering, some of it was not.  Most importantly it was unauthorized, and unsanctioned. The rest of the piece dealt with whether the company should handle, harness or silence the blogger. Several experts weighed in. 

Unfortunately, today too many companies make the decision to silence their independent voices.  Yet they are not silencing them for long.  While the corporate website and email lists may remain sterile, the facebook walls and blogspot posts will continue to explode with the noise, dirt and scuffle of the marketplace.  Companies must recognize that their employees are individuals, with talents and audiences.  Hopefully, that way, when they are exploring ways to find a truer, more believable voice, they will stop and listen and they will find that they already have thousands.