Nobody, but you... David Murray

Nobody could have spurred on the growth of this community more than David Murray.

This blog, with the accompanying wiki, Google Group, podcasts and more is a perfect example of how a select group of people - with shared interests - can take social media (blogs) and turn them into a fun network sharing ideas and opinions.

David, you asked for essays to help you understand social media in your recent journal editorial.  I say, "David, read this blog and those of the contributors, and think of it as one broad essay 'loosely joined' (thanks David Weinberger) which can serve you in helping to understand why social media might mean something."

OK, I'm only sort of kidding.  But, David, you should be paying attention.  You have now been thoroughly taken to task in a number of blogs (as has your employer, Ragan Communications) and those blog posts will be showing up in Google/Yahoo! searches.  What will that say?  Well, it will say that Ragan Communications hasn't grasped that social media is a force to be reckoned with these days.  It will also say that you don't know how to handle it, either.

Now the interesting thing is, we don't claim to "get" it all, either.  The real purposes of everyone's online activities - via blog, wiki or any other channels - is to discuss these ideas and share information whereby we all do a remarkable thing.  We learn.  We learn from each other and allow others to comment on our thoughts and opinions, too.  David, don't you think that such a task can be accomplished with employee communication?  Firms are using intranet blogs and portals to do it every day.  Didn't you know about that?  What does that say about Ragan Communications and their ability to share valuable advice with their readers?

Your Ragan Communications site and Journal of Employee Communication Management don't necessarily do that because you are stuck in the old one-way communication model.  No comments allowed.  No trackbacks.  No links to those you deride.  So, you won't learn from your posts.  They have no link to you because they can only email you.  That, David, is just the most basic of aspects about social media that you haven't yet grasped.  And, you don't link to people when you write about them.  That, David, keeps you from enjoying these learning conversations.  New words for you, today, David.  Trackbacks.  Links.  Comments.  Try them.  You'll see that they can be useful tools.

I hope you're enjoying the ride, David.  I'd get involved and take part in the conversations.  It can only help you.  We're really only talking about new tools and tactics, not the next big thing.

Comments

[Robert French]

Update: David Murray has taken the editorial out from behind the firewall so that all may see it, now. I linked to it in the first line of the post above.

[David Phillips]

Now I understand. The email spam from Ragan is part of the mindset:
Send nothing to nobodies.
Thanks

[Robert French]

Thanks, Ike. I don't mean to pick on David, but I think you are right. "David Murray has been answering these questions correctly all along. He just didn't know that so many of us would answer to that name."

Eric, thanks. All good points. I realize they have to protect their revenue. Still, they could open up comments on those posts when they let them ride free for the first few days. The post in the Journal about Allan, for instance, should have something more than an email link. And, as we can all see, it is now behind the firewall and can't be reached.

Hmm? Maybe that's not a bad thing, after all.

I like some of their publications, too. I'm not trying to slam the whole company, so much as point out that there is more to online than the old school model.

[Eric Eggertson]

Robert: David wrote The Speechwriters Slant blog for Ragan for several months. It was quite good, and I believe it allowed comments. Not sure about trackbacks.

I don't Ragan is alone in keeping their paid content fairly close to the chest. A lot of print publications do that. I don't know what percentage of Ragan's published output is available free on the web, but I suspect it's less than 5%.

That being said, I agree with you!

[Ike]

Robert, you hit it out of the park.

Who understands where all of these tools are going? Nobody.

Who has the vision to put tools and memes together in new ways? Nobody.

Who has the answer to tomorrow's communication and networking challenges? Nobody.

David Murray has been answering these questions correctly all along. He just didn't know that so many of us would answer to that name.