1.I think it is a classic risk-management approach. Rather than see the utility of the channel, many of us just worry about the risks - and given that it is all pretty new to people, I think that is understandable.

We have been grappling with these issues in government (New Zealand: I'm sure you will be pleased to know). To that end, I have put together some principles for social media in the public sector. They do come across as prescriptive, but the point is to manage the risk while enabling people to use the tools effectively.

2.I wonder if it has something to do with the overall atmosphere towards corporate blogging (a term that is seriously starting to get on my nerves - it's so dry) from within the enterprise? I mean, for the most part, if you cold approached any senior executive who had heard about this "blogging thing" and suggested they join the conversation, they'd probably visibly recoil and cry "Nooooo...!" Of course, with a little edumacation they almost always come around, but their knee-jerk very much dovetails with the posts you mention.

In other (shorter) words, I think that these bloggers might just have their fingers on the corporate pulse. For now.

3.I appreciate your concern about this Shel, but I have learned that laying out the risks, then answering them one by one, tends to work in a corporate environment. We need to recognize the risks as they relate to the benefits. I indicated that this will be a series and there is more to come, all will be cross-linked and referenced. :-) See you in Vegas.

4.Hey Shel,

Part of the problem may be the fanaticism that some blog-vangelists carry about blogs as the panacea for corporate comm ills and needs. That unrealistic -- I daresay immature -- viewpoint and promotion does more damage to convincing the corporate executives to agree to fund and participate in blogs when and if they are merited. Indeed, that goes for all of social media. Shel, as I know you've remarked (or correct me if I'm wrong on the attribution!), folks, blogs and other forms of social media are simply additional tools, channels to consider. Important channels through which you might get a concentration of your target audience, to be sure, but potential channels nonetheless. They are tactics, not the strategy.

Executives can quickly tire of hearing about the business world's equivalent of the next "get rich quick" scheme and discount future proclamations to those who fail to approach them with a modicum of strategic sense.

5.I don't disagree with what anybody has said here, but I still thing the negative slant just adds fuel to the arguments against corporate blogging. I'm not suggesting that the issues not be raised, but that they be raised from the angle of something that can be addressed rather than an obstacle that needs to be overcome. Again, I think "Nurture your blog" as a guideline for success offers the same advice as "Neglect" does, but from the perspective of what breeds success rather than what causes failure. Spin!