Lawrence Gee | Marketing, Internet, Creativity, Strategy

The Power of the Internet

It’s funny how the power of the Internet is still a mystery to some in the corporate world.  Yes, it’s new.  Yes, it’s a change from traditional media such as television, print, and radio.  Yes, it’s still not fully understood.  Yes, it changes faster than other channels.  It’s also something that needs to be embraced and not taken for granted.  It has the ability to raise voices when you least expect it.  It also has a life of its on that would be extremely difficult for a large corporation to counteract.

We’ve all heard past stories of companies blissfully ignoring what’s going on the Internet while forum posts, user comments, and blog posts are being written about them and their products.  These days we are being taught these cautionary tales.  Whether it be in your business, through school, or your peers - it’s important to monitor what is being said out on the Internet.  Sadly, not all companies take this to heart and some are slow to adapt.

I tell a story of a chain of events where the power of the Internet is clear and apparent. 

Last week, I received my weekly newsletter email from the WOMMA (Word Of Mouth Marketing Association) and a headline catches my attention.  It reads CNN Blogger Fired for Having A Blog.  I immediately open it since I do blog and I will be employed somewhere after I complete my MBA this May.  The WOMMA posting leads me next to a blog post by Matthew Ingram, a Technical Writer for the Globe in Toronto.  Matthew writes a clear and concise posting on some of the issues surrounding Chez Pazienza, the fired CNN producer.  He links to other prominent bloggers and their postings and their opinions about the subject.  He also links to the Chez Pazienza’s own blog and his posting recalling his termination.

In short, Chez seems to have been fired for having his own blog, not disclosing it to his superiors, and becoming popular enough to be picked up on other websites.  The conflict of interest obviously lies in distribution of content however where are the lines drawn from what you do on the job to what you do in your free time?  Chez’s blog is a non-commercial entity that was written outside of his CNN producer position.  Sure, CNN has the right to investigate whether or not it is a conflict of interest but how many employees know about what really is a conflict of interest or not?  Should there be more explicit guidelines outlining what is acceptable and what is not? 

With the rampant trend of blogs popping up left and right, should companies have the right to terminate someone for expressing their opinion outside of the workplace?  I’m not sure of the answer to this but what I do know is that if someone at CNN didn’t like the fact that Chez Pazienza was blogging, firing him probably was not the best course of action.  The voice of one can quickly move around the Internet.  As apparent in this case, the viral nature of how far this story has spread is dramatic.  The voice that was created from one firing is now a linked collection of many voices around the Internet.  For a company like CNN that wants to embrace technology and blogs, it’s very interesting that they did not foresee this one firing developing into a much larger discussion.

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