Make that blog work
January 29, 2007 4:52 PM   Subscribe

How do you get people to use the company's internal blog?

I work for a company that does public and private development contracts around the world. We've grown in the last couple of years to about 200 employes, about half in the US and half out in about 25 field offices. We have an internal blog that - it seems to me - could be a valuable tool for communicating about projects that we're working on, sharing ideas for similar activities, news, etc. All that good stuff.

Its been in existence for several months, and some people have begun posting to it, but hardly anyone is commenting. Its become a place where people announce what they've done and post relevant news stories or academic articles, but no one responds to those posts, there's no discussion.

Since I was the one who was most eager to get this thing going, our IT team has put up a platform (which has some issues but is basically operational) and my largely skeptical overseers have given me the task of making that investment pay off.

What do I do?
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy to Technology (14 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
You have to make it valuable to them. You can't make them use it if there's no benefit (and that you think it's cool is not a benefit).

If you can, post things there that people need. When someone asks a question about a project, respond with the URL to the answer.

It may take a while to catch on - keep at it.
posted by putril at 5:03 PM on January 29, 2007


Questions start conversations more than announcements.

A scheduled series gives people a reason to come back - get someone from each company division to write something up for one day a week. HR on Mondays with FAQ's and maybe new hire intros, Tech Support tips on Tuesdays, etc.

Also, consider approaching those in the organization who send out mass emails announcements - get them to consolidate some of that to the blog.
posted by voidcontext at 5:14 PM on January 29, 2007


I'm quite interested in your question, especially as I am currently teaching a class on organizational communication, but it would help to have some more information about this problem. Specifically, what were you hoping to achieve with this blog, in terms of communicating about projects? Was there a particular problem this blog was meant to address? Do your bosses have specific expectations of what it will mean for this to "pay off"?

Sorry to answer your questions with more questions!
posted by DiscourseMarker at 5:17 PM on January 29, 2007


I worked for a couple IT departments that were getting started with corporate blogging. I agree that getting people to post wasn't an so much an issue as was getting people to discuss the posts online rather than in person.

Have people ask questions, first and foremost. I like voidcontext's idea, but even simplifying it to posting a couple of division-related questions will create discussion with a bit less work.
posted by thisjax at 5:21 PM on January 29, 2007


Some companies actually have a person or two on hand to kick-start these things by posing as several different people. (This I know because I've actually been asked to do this at a previous job.) People are more likely to contribute when they feel that other people are actually reading and participating - makes it worth their while to join up.

Sneaky and almost downright dirty, I know - but it worked in my case. Just as long as the employees don't find out that 100+ contributions under 100+ names are actually from just one person!! It would be a little difficult to pull off if full names were attached to the announcements and responses.
posted by Xere at 5:22 PM on January 29, 2007


Figure out a must-read topic (something with a slight gossip value, maybe?) and start a conversation on it. Recruit confederates to join in. This will create buzz and, perhaps more importantly, help to provide an example of what kinds of topics are appropriate to post. What are people in your office wondering about or talking about?

I wouldn't read a company blog that had HR FAQs, myself. My life is already over-full of such communiques. I would read a company blog where HR posted an explanation of why a new wall has just been put up between the IT department and the sales desks. 'Cause, you know, it's been an unanswered question; people have been asking each other. And if I could ask that question on the blog myself, I'd be even more interested. And if I knew I could comment without vigilant self-censorship, and have my ideas count, I'd be reading that thing every day.

Consider that part of the problem may be paranoia. That's why it behooves you to make very clear, and perhaps by example, what it's okay to post about. A couple loosened-tie posts might help free up the lurkers.
posted by ROTFL at 5:30 PM on January 29, 2007


It's hopeless. I'm serious. You already have e-mail, telephone, and face-to-face interaction for discussion inside a company. That's usually more than sufficient, and usually more than most people even want to deal with.
posted by aparrish at 5:44 PM on January 29, 2007


Questions start conversations more than announcements.

This reminds me of Aahz's Law: "The best way to get information on Usenet is not to ask a question, but to post the wrong information".

Post some disinformation and you'll soon have a discussion going.
posted by martinrebas at 6:09 PM on January 29, 2007


Embarrassing suggestions of cute girls aside (Steven, what the hell are you doing posting that kind of crap answer in AskMe?), DiscourseMarker has some good questions. It may be that this was a tool no one was really asking for, which will make it harder to get them to use it. But I'd try asking a variety of coworkers (in person) what they'd like to see there. Then, give them a chance to submit the kind of questions ROTFL mentions, maybe anonymously, to you to send to specific managers/bosses, with the answers posted weekly on the blog. I bet ROTFL's point about paranoia is a factor, too, or perhaps some discomfort with the lack of clarity about just how informal the language is allowed to be. Some examples would probably help. But what *really* works is frequently updated interesting content. Keep doing it and they'll come.
posted by mediareport at 9:20 PM on January 29, 2007


Does your blog software include a poll feature (or allow plugins that provide polling)? An informal poll might get people commenting.

Are the employees a relatively tight bunch already? If not, consider asking readers to introduce themselves through the comments. Maybe provide a list of half a dozen questions or so, that people can answer as a basic introduction.

Also, the following articles provide some tips for getting more comments:

10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog

5 Blog Writing Tips To Get More Comments

Some of the tips may not work in a corporate environment, but most should apply.
posted by xulu at 10:10 PM on January 29, 2007


Best answer: Sorry to derail a bit, but have you considered using a wiki instead? From my experience, wikis are better suited to the corporate environment (or, at least, my environment).

Until about a year ago, my company had an internal blog much like yours; it languished unused except for one enthusiast. We installed a wiki server, added some informal documentation (the sort of stuff that everyone had saved in their own email folders) and a couple of pages suggesting a rough structure, and announced it. Within two months, half the company was making regular edits.

Now, a year later, the wiki is our official repository for internal documentation.
posted by zakj at 11:53 PM on January 29, 2007


Firstly, if there's also an intranet of some sort then the blog needs to be integrated into its home page. You can't expect people to follow more than one page. If there isn't an intranet, would it be useful to integrate useful information (key contacts, maps, etc.) into the blog home page template?

Try to get stuff people do respond to included in the blog. For example, are there special events? Competitions? Days out?

If possible, try to cover the kinds of 'controversial' topics people talk about, obviously covering yourself by getting approval.

Ultimately you may find that no matter how accessible or useful you make the blog, only a small percentage of people have the enthusiasm and talent to participate fully. Most people plod along in their jobs with no real interest in their industry or role.
posted by malevolent at 1:22 AM on January 30, 2007


..but no one responds to those posts, there's no discussion.

See, I don't realllllly get why you either want or are prepared to judge the blog effectiveness by this metric. Are you saying that the stats show that not many people are visiting the blog? If the stats are fair for page loads then perhaps that's a better way to judge it: information dissemination has occurred therefore the blog is 'successful'.

Sure, you can go the radical road with bogus info or bogus commenters but is this really benefitting the company in any way?

I agree with whomever suggested talking with some people and asking them what they want. Otherwise why not organize a couple of roundtables asking what tactics might make the site more lively. I think about gift certificates for the best question or answer each month. Or perhaps having some vague competition day each week/month calling for problem solving schemes - that sort of thing.

But really, this isn't a 'blog' per se, it's a device for internal communication which is why aparrish has essentially laid out the reality - you're pushing a barrow of shit up a hill to make yet another bloody communication mechanism at work popular. You have to reward people for participating either financially or ego-wise. But again: how is any of this useful for the company??
posted by peacay at 5:40 AM on January 30, 2007


Response by poster: You're right, its not really a blog, but something like a blog. Actually, at its best, it should be a specialized version of meta and the ask - people post materials and ideas that are useful and interesting to them and people comment; people post questions about their work and others respond.

Linking to real events is a good idea; astoturfing the questions takes too much time and smells fake.

Its useful for the company because we're capturing the experiences with projects and creating a mechanism through which they are stored and shared with others either now or in the past rather than lost when the person moves to a different job.

But zak may be right that a wiki is a better format to accomplish that goal. Look for my "how to use a company wiki" post in a couple of months.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 2:54 PM on January 30, 2007


« Older CASE RACE   |   Can I view CC information on my monitor? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.