Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk With Customers

Chapter One
Souls of the Borg

＂[Corporations] cannot commit treason, nor be outlawed, nor excommunicate[d], for they have no souls.＂ -Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634)


We live in a time when most people dont trust big companies. Headlines gush with tales of malfeasance, abuse, and old-fashioned plunder, but thats just part of the problem. Theres a general perception that large companies are run by slick lawyers and book-fixing accountants who oversee armies of obedient, drone-like employees. Companies are perceived as monoliths without souls. In short, we see no humanity.

For a very long time, Microsoft has been among the first companies you think of when this picture is drawn. Often perceived as predatory and heartless, Microsoft has a reputation for ruthlessly rolling over competitors, wrestling in courtrooms against government prosecutors, and exposing its customers to security flaws and frustrating glitches. To see how people express their views on Microsoft, check it out with any search engine. When we conducted a Google search, ＂Evil Empire + Microsoft＂ brought up 471,000 responses. The words ＂Microsoft sucks＂ delivered a whopping 669,000 responses, and ＂Microsoft + Borg＂ generated more than a quarter-million returns.

In reality, Microsoft is not a monolith, but rather an organization composed of more than 56,000 individuals, most having little or no idea what sins were committed in the past, or by whom. A great many of these employees werent there at the time the controversies occurred, and if they were, they served too far down the ladder to be in on the secrets. And well-documented Microsoft product flaws may be amplified by the fact that just about everyone uses some Microsoft products. Still, the company unquestionably has been hurt by these dents in its reputation. Some talented people simply refuse to work there, and many of those who do work there admit that they have sometimes been demoralized by all the negativity.

In recent years, Microsoft has made serious efforts to improve its public image. Walter Mossberg, author of the influential Wall Street Journal Personal Technology column, observes:

Since the end of the anti-trust trial, Microsoft has been on a massive charm offensive. It has methodically settled lawsuit after lawsuit with rivals and governments. It has reached out to all sorts of constituencies. [Chairman] Bill Gates himself has become calmer, less publicly combative, since leaving the CEO post. His charitable foundation has taken off in a very public way. And the company has allowed numerous employees to show a human face by blogging. All of this has improved their image.

Our informal research bears this out as well. Wherever weve looked, weve found a recent diminution of animosity toward the company. Examining those Google results closely shows that recent negative articles and postings are on a downcurve. Publications are covering Microsoft from a more neutral standpoint, and respected magazines such as Fortune and The Economist have recently sung tunes of at least faint praise. In addition, product launches such as MSN Spaces (Microsofts free blogging service) have been received with less general skepticism in the technical community.

Even the oft-demonized Gates seems to be enjoying slightly friendlier receptions. In late September 2004, the chairman addressed a half-dozen Silicon Valley venues and seemed more comfortable than during past visits. Media observers expressed surprise and even disappointment that most audience questions were polite. The few audience challenges addressed security flaws and Linux server issues rather than the usual ethical diatribes. Another anecdotal piece is that the five-year-old ＂Evil Empire Blog＂ shut down in January 2005. Its author maintained it was because mainstream media were covering the issue so well. Others noted the blogs readership was in decline.

Even Mitch Kapor, chairman of the Open Source Application Foundation (OSAF) and long outspoken in his distaste for Microsoft, seems to have mellowed. Speaking at a May 2004 conference, he told an interviewer, ＂Singing songs about the Evil Empire may still be fun, but theyre merely tunes for aging hippies.＂ Other long-time nemeses, such as Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy, and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, for varying business and legal reasons, have collectively sat down and shut up.

In addition to such anecdotal evidence, Microsoft has hard evidence: surveys showing that customers are viewing the company in more trusting terms, according to a survey Microsoft conducted of visitors to its Channel 9 blog.

Press observers see a change in what they hear from readers as well. PC Magazine editor-in-chief Michael J. Miller told us, ＂I think many people, particularly in Silicon Valley, have softened their views towards Microsoft. There are probably a lot of reasons for this, including Microsofts larger presence in the Valley, more outreach to the industry, and the post-Internet bust economy.＂

But a growing number of Microsoft-watchers and people at mid-level desks inside Microsoft think theres another factor-blogging. And the people actually doing it are downright certain that they are making a difference.