Businesses must be prepared to become transparent if they are to make the best of Web 2.0 technology, a leading blogging expert has told a technology publication.
Corporate blogs have become a hugely important public relations tool over the last 12 months, as some of the biggest names in business have taken to the net to engage customers.
But the flipside is that they leave themselves open to all manner of comments from the public, as a leading authority on blogging explained to Silicon.com in an exclusive interview.
Drew Benvie, resident expert at public relations firm Lewis, says that this is part and parcel of having a successful blog.
"If a company is transparent in everything it does then that will fit well with a blog," he said.
"They must be open, for example, about how their product performs and they must take reader feedback."
However, he added that blogs are not suited to all types of business as the internet community is wise enough to spot blogs that are little more than PR gimmicks.
"A CEO should only be blogging if they have something interesting to say that their customers and their stakeholders want to hear."
One corporate blogger that has won the kudos of the online community is Sun Microsystems' Jonathan Schwartz, who updates his blog almost daily.
Blogs that have failed include Sony and Wal Mart's, both of whom unknowingly employed public relations agencies to advertise themselves through the blogosphere, but were later exposed for a lack of transparency.
