WE'VE JOINED THE BLOGOSPHERE!
Babylonian Times is now the title of Corporate Watch's new blog. Read regular news, comment and fun, with an anti-corporate theme, at http://corporatewatch.wordpress.com/
With many free websites offering people the chance to set up their own web-log the thousands of sites that make up the 'blogosphere' have become an important arena for radical and critical journalism - epitomised by the legendary Baghdad Burning blog of reports from Iraq. While the majority of bloggers simply use their personal web pages as a kind of public diary to share details of their life, if one's everyday life includes working at, or being ripped off by, a corporation such as Asda or Starbucks, then a blog becomes a way of sharing those frustrations with others - and corporations have recently started to recognise the potential of such blogs to increase anti-corporate feeling.
THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF BLOGS Computer giant Apple has attempted to sue the PowerPage.org blogger, and others, who leaked details of a new product[1], and the Warren Kremer advertising agency has only recently dropped a case against blogger Lance Dutson, who had been criticising the work the company has done for the US state of Maine.[2] The Morrisons Employee blog was once a thorn in the side of this supermarket giant, but a pro-Morrison site has now been set up, with the same name, but aimed at providing a safe place for employees to let off steam - and with the warning 'if you want to slag off Morrisons, don't bother joining.' Corporations are also attempting to harness the powerful, 'word of mouth' appeal of blogs to boost their marketing efforts. Wal-Mart has been working with bloggers to plant positive info on their websites since 2005,[3] and many corporations are now encouraging their executives to write blogs that will hopefully 'humanise' the company. Beware - there is also a trend of companies setting up fake websites, that pretend to be grassroots but are actually part of a clever marketing campaign. One example is this 'anti-Tango' website (http://swansea-res.org.uk), supposedly set up by Swansea residents, but actually designed by advertising agency Clemmow Hornby Inge, who's clients include - Tango![4] References
[1] www.theregister.com/2006/04/24/apple_blogger_appeal/
[2] http://adage.com/article?article_id=109009
[3] http://nwanews.com/bcdr/News/35413/
[4] www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/new_campaign_for_climate_c_24052005.html
THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF BLOGS Computer giant Apple has attempted to sue the PowerPage.org blogger, and others, who leaked details of a new product[1], and the Warren Kremer advertising agency has only recently dropped a case against blogger Lance Dutson, who had been criticising the work the company has done for the US state of Maine.[2] The Morrisons Employee blog was once a thorn in the side of this supermarket giant, but a pro-Morrison site has now been set up, with the same name, but aimed at providing a safe place for employees to let off steam - and with the warning 'if you want to slag off Morrisons, don't bother joining.' Corporations are also attempting to harness the powerful, 'word of mouth' appeal of blogs to boost their marketing efforts. Wal-Mart has been working with bloggers to plant positive info on their websites since 2005,[3] and many corporations are now encouraging their executives to write blogs that will hopefully 'humanise' the company. Beware - there is also a trend of companies setting up fake websites, that pretend to be grassroots but are actually part of a clever marketing campaign. One example is this 'anti-Tango' website (http://swansea-res.org.uk), supposedly set up by Swansea residents, but actually designed by advertising agency Clemmow Hornby Inge, who's clients include - Tango![4] References
[1] www.theregister.com/2006/04/24/apple_blogger_appeal/
[2] http://adage.com/article?article_id=109009
[3] http://nwanews.com/bcdr/News/35413/
[4] www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/new_campaign_for_climate_c_24052005.html
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