C'est la Vie

...what's that I hear?

I can recall being a child and sitting on the sofa, pouting quietly to myself because my mother refused to give me money to go to the candy store with. In my mind, it made no sense that I couldn't just have the candy, why would they need money in exchange? If they knew I needed it, they should just give it to me, and then later on, if I thought they needed my doll, for example, I would give that to them. In my young mind the world would be a much better place this way...back to good 'ol trading, and good hearted people. For whatever the reason, The Cluetrain Manifesto has sent my mind spiraling back to that point in my life. Why shouldn't we all be allowed to go on the internet, and do whatever we like, essentially, with it? The benefits seem to be endless when incorporated within businesses, and the consequences few. As stated in the introduction, "The World Wide Web reinforces freedom." In a time when freedom is the buzzword of the world, or atleast our world here in the states (afterall, we should all be out spreading freedom, should we not?), isn't this the natural progression that business should be headed towards?

"Things change and change is often painful." However, change is also said to be the only constant that this world knows. One of the greatest characteristics of mankind is our ability to adapt to change, survival-of-the-fittest, if you will. It is nothing out of the ordinary for us to restructure this, or invent that in order to deal with ________. We adjust, we accept, and we continue living in what is often a better environment (compared to what it would have been had we ignored the troubling past events). We are only able to do this by communicating with one another, by brainstorming ideas and telling the person in charge their theory sucks and it would run much more smoothly this way...however tactfully you put it is obviously up to you ;) The modern world, at least in America, is not a tyranny, therefore business should not be run as such.

"Companies do not like our self-searching, metaphorical tendencies; these things cannot be enhanced by any type of product. Instead, they pervert our inherent fear and amazement of the inevitable 'END' by convincing us that happiness lies in tubes, bottles, boxes, and plastic packages." As Jennifer put so well in her response, it's as if we are taught to be slaves to these companies without ever knowing it. Enter the Internet stage: Caution, Freedom Ahead.

The truth is, the internet doesn't save us from the enslavement of companies, but it does provide a safe place to exchange ideas with other consumers who have used the products and/or worked with or for the companies which make the products. We can now get truth, not PR. According to Locke, this is the crucial shift in the producer/consumer relationship. As, by now, we should all be fairly familiar with the name Scoble, I found myself skimming through his recent blogs just the other day. Conveniently enough, he provides a perfect example of this - where he is in the limelight not for all of the wonderful things he tells the masses about Mircosoft products and the company itself, but rather for his straightforward persona. "Workers have had it with repressive management that just gets in the way. Markets have had it with hyperbole-laden corporate rhetoric that's 99 percent hot air." After all, mother always said honesty was the best policy...

The author has also pointed out the advantages of the Long-Tail theory, with the smaller companies on the up side of the deal. If you're tired with all the reading and still want to learn a little more about this theory, where the few large, corporate monsters end up falling to the many tiny, garage-band start-ups, you can watch the 2001 flick, Antitrust. A cinematic masterpiece? Not exactly, but you'll be able to grasp the exaggerated Hollywood explanation of the theory while enjoying the occasional not-so-boring scenes, including, but not limited to, attempts of murder from sesame seeds...

Though I fear that my post is quickly taking on a rambling tone, I have to make one final comment before concluding this piece. I found Elena's response to be particularly interesting in her view of the beneifts of self-expression in the workplace via the internet. "Self-expression enables people to explore parts of their imagination that they conceal from their colleagues and it gives people an interactive outlet for several issues in the world." Well put, Elena :)

"The real point is that the Internet has made it possible for genuine human voices to be heard again, however different they may be from the cautious, insipid pabulum of mainstream broadcast media." The point being, "...word gets around, and on the Net, word gets around fast." So listen up...

posted by Lyndsay @ 1:44 PM