Freedom in the Corporate Blogosphere

Some people are of a mind that company-sponsored blogs do little but serve as promotional tools, toeing the corporate line and cheering on the home team. In some instances, such grains of salt might hold true.

But in my case, I can say with a clear conscience that no front-office birdie is singing into my ear. In fact, I’m given refreshingly free reign over this domain. Each day, I scan the assorted stories on my virtual (and actual) desk and hammer out whatever comes to mind (sure, sometimes I pump a little energy into various Virgo doings—most notably, our various conferences—that’s just to do my promotional part … everyone wants to be on the winning team…).

Of course, this latter approach does much more to build credibility, and on that front some companies can occasionally do with a bit of polish. One such company (at least in my circle) is Wal-Mart, the retail behemoth that has single-handedly changed the face of most of small-town America (and even some of the larger towns…). So when I read about an innovative collection of Wal-Mart corporate blogs in a recent Times article, my interest was instantly piqued. After poking around in the blogs a bit, I even ran across an entire vein on sustainability.

Such an unfiltered, unedited, down-to-earth approach to corporate blogging might do much to build some sideways credibility for Wal-Mart while personalizing the oft-imposing nature of the chain.

Although the blogosphere is still young, it’s exponentially expanding and could prove a great way to build and maintain customer bases—as long as said blog remains a credible source of unmuddied information.