"Blogs have shifted the balance of power between man and business ... man now has the upper hand."
There were a few good examples of how blogs are shifting the balance of power for consumers quoted in the newspapers at the weekend.
The Financial Times describes how Kryptonite, a manufacturer of bicycle locks in the US, had to replace hundreds of thousands of locks after material harmful to its reputation appeared online:
"In September, a viral video spread through the blogosphere, showing how to pick a Kryptonite lock with a ballpoint pen. The company scrambled to reply, but its tiny offline PR team was no match for the citizen forces mobilised on the internet. Blogs spread the word that Kryptonite was flawed and the company ended up offering everyone a new lock."
In fact 300,000 locks were exchanged at a cost reported to be $10m, and the company also ended up settling a class-action lawsuit by offering up to $3,000 per stolen bike. The video of the Kryptonite lock being picked can be found here.
The Independent quotes the same story, and also that of TiVo:
"When a commercial blog called PVRblog.com ran a piece claiming that adverts would be shown on its machines, all hell broke lose in a 75,000-strong online TiVo community. The company only realised there was a problem when the story hit the Los Angeles Times."
This example raises the issue of environmental scanning, and how issues being raised online can act as an early warning to problems before they hit the mainstream media.
The FT article goes on to ask if power also brings responsibility. The focus is on legal obligations, but it could be argued that there are also ethical or moralobligations as in any other area of journalism.
Matt
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