Dan Gilmore shares a PR pitch he received from a company that offers to “manage and monitor digital influencers” and how companies can use the service to take action against those who don’t speak kindly about a company. The key element that public relations professionals do not understand about blogging and all Citizen’s Media is that conversation can not be manage – it can be joined. Any company that thinks they can “manage” the conversations taking place through weblogs and other conversation-enabled media is asking for a backlash so powerful, the company could be brought to its knees. In this country and in any free country, people are not told what to say, they are asked why they said it and asked to converse about it. If a public relations entity seeks to influence thought, it should enter the conversation – not attempt to ban the conversation. (Make sure you read the insanely short-sited comment from Flackboy Kevin)
