Lori II

Two days between posts; now that's blogging! 

Lori Queen comes right back to follow-up on questions  and comments from arising from her initial remarks on the GM Fastlane Blog.  Here's how she starts out:

First, let me just say wow! I can feel the excitement and pent-up demand for the Solstice. Second, let me give you my heartfelt thanks for your candor. Your reservations about whether we’ll come through for all of you –- and for GM –- clearly came across as well as your strong hope that we’ll exceed everyone’s expectations. I’m confident we will –- or least I’ll go down trying!

As I've said before, I'm not following this blog because I'm a gearhead (not that there's anything wrong with that!), but because I'm fascinated by the senior leadership of a Fortune 50 company addressing issues of survival in public. 

Read Lori's first paragraph again.  Now, some PR pro may have helped her put those sentences together, but it doesn't come across that way.  She comes across as a leader trying to address directly the customers, fans and passionate critics who responded to her last post; as a new blogger who's experienced blogging's connectivity for the first time.

Good for her.  I know we're having questions about whether or not blogs are really "conversations," but some kind of interactive communication's going on here.  And it's pretty different from what we're used to seeing from a big company.

Comments

[Jon Husband]

I know we're having questions about whether or not blogs are really "conversations," but some kind of interactive communication's going on here. And it's pretty different from what we're used to seeing from a big company.

Tom, I think this is exactly the heart of the issue .. what with all the to-and-froing re: words like conversations, markets, content (or not), authors, interaction, hyperlinks subvert ..., etc.

(Now .. don't get me wrong .. I'm one of those people that thinks spending a lot of time working at using the right words in the right places is very important)

That said, it seems very clear to me that the kinds of interactions and exchange (lots of people dislike that word too) is really very different than anything we've experienced before. Here's an example (or a wonderment ?) on my part ... *conversations* previously were common and held between ... neighbours, colleagues, friends, family, professionals one went to see or with whom one was a colleague, etc.

Today .... there is relatively little left of what we might have conmsidered community/neighbours, etc. in the 50's or 60's or 70's (especially amongst the computer literate who work in an infromatised environment or have net access at home, as contrasted with the general forms of interaction in say rural places in North America.

Today ... (I think) the large majority of people sit behind screens and keyboards for work/at work. The only *conversations* that might happen are on cofee breaks or at lunch, or in structured, usually-agenda-driven meetings. The rest of the time it's email, surfing, using a wiki, etc .. and this will only increase.

It ain't necessarily *conversation*, but all this back-and-forth between people on the Web clearly is a common and growing form of social *human* interaction in a completley new set of conditions .. and there's an enormous amount of learning, and development of new mental models left for us to engage with, as we mopve one day at a time into a future that is probably already more with us than we consciously realize.

[Tom Guarriello]

Thanks for your typically thoughtful words, Jon. I think the social evolution taking place via blogs is an expression of a longing for the kind of "community" we experienced in earlier times. It's certainly different than what we've known before, and smarter people than me are talking about that. I'm in agreement with your last words: we're already further along on this path than we realize.