Great article about Robert Scoble in the latest issue of The Economist.
The article gives the story of “the Scobleizer” and how he and blogging has/will change how companies communicate with customers and others. Robert Scoble has a big following in the blogging world, but how much impact does he really have? And what is the long-term effect on marketing and PR in the way it is traditionally practiced? Two main differences between the PR department and Scoble is the personal way of communication and mostly important honesty. The latter which has been something that PR departments have been experts of avoiding, and in many cases experts of the opposite.
<blockquote>Mr Scoble seems to be worth his salary. He has become a minor celebrity among geeks worldwide, who read his blog religiously. Impressively, he has also succeeded where small armies of more conventional public-relations types have been failing abjectly for years: he has made Microsoft, with its history of monopolistic bullying, appear marginally but noticeably less evil to the outside world, and especially to the independent software developers that are his core audience. Bosses and PR people at other companies are taking note.</blockquote>