The value of authentic conversation
Talking in a bar, late the other day, I encountered the latent extremist in myself when it came to web communications and marketing.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that a lot of what bloggers, podcasters, et cetera, do is marketing, though in a very bootstrapper kind of way. As such, I’ve found myself becoming mighty interested in web trends. Seeing where people are going in terms of fashion and style is always something I was fairly adept at, so the above does feel kind of like an extension to that.
But back to my hidden extremist: Discussing web conversations, Cluetrain-style, in a bar the other night, I found myself saying (having only inbibed a few pints), “Why not even, in the long term, eliminate the concept of the ‘official website!’ No one takes that seriously anyway!” The idea being, people’s conversations on blogs, mailing lists (et cetera), are so much more authentic and valuable to the visitor than the official website, which is usually nothing but ‘brochure-ware’ (to quote a recent acquaintance of mine). Forget if the discussion is positive or negative - it’ll be negative if the products is shit, and it’ll be positive if their products are great. But let’s get people talking.
If you heard this recent interview, you’ll hear me saying that I am about discussion, whether it be people trash talking me or praising me; as long as they are talking, that’s the goal. On my weblog, the only rule is that, if you want to say something negative, even if it’s not constructive at all, leave an email address in the field reserved for it. A real one. Then you can say whatever you want, and I’ll leave it there unless it’s 100% pure troll meat. So there you go.
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Filed by Julien at 12:49 am under random
Hi, Julien. Great piece.
You wrote: “Why not even, in the long term, eliminate the concept of the ‘official website!’ No one takes that seriously anyway!”
Now, that’s some radical thinking! It might have some merit — not in terms of eliminating the “home base on the web” function, but of doing away with the “Welcome to Exxon” approach.
You realize, of course, that you will totally send PR folks into a panic with this. Have fun rocking their world :-)
- Amy Gahran
RightConversation.com
Contentious.com
[…] Over at In Over Your Head (one of the most beautifully designed blogs I’ve ever seen, incidentally), Julien Smith recently posted a rather bold musing in his article “The Value of Authentic Conversation“: […]
[…] In Over Your Head has an interesting thought on the value of blogging authenticity as opposed to that of an official website. But back to my hidden extremist: Discussing web conversations, Cluetrain-style, in a bar the other night, I found myself saying (having only inbibed a few pints), “Why not even, in the long term, eliminate the concept of the ‘official website!’ No one takes that seriously anyway!” The idea being, people’s conversations on blogs, mailing lists (et cetera), are so much more authentic and valuable to the visitor than the official website, which is usually nothing but ‘brochure-ware’ (to quote a recent acquaintance of mine). Forget if the discussion is positive or negative - it’ll be negative if the products is shit, and it’ll be positive if their products are great. But let’s get people talking. […]
[…] Amy Gahren and Julien Smith are discussing whether it’s time to get rid of the official website. Thanks to Julien for getting this conversation started. […]
Julian:
I agree. Public discussions of products and services are extremely valuable as marketing tools, especially if the company has bothered to get the very basic premise correct - produce a great idea/product/service. After that is accomplished, conversations will be very effective ways of increasing business.