Tom Foremski came up with (another) brilliant idea this week. Given the breadth, depth and permanence of the web/blogosphere, Tom suggests that “the right to respond” should become a built-in part of the web’s infrastructure:
“I’m proposing that companies and individuals all should have a level playing field and that a fundamental right of the Internet should be the right to respond to anything that is written, said, or viewed about them.”
“Readers reading a Right to Respond posting will know that it is likely biased but at least they can make up their own minds.
There should be a tiny Right to Respond widget or link next to any content.”
Tom goes on to discuss how/why/when the Right to Respond might be implemented. It’s a fascinating read. We took a stab at a Right-To-Respond widget, up top, just for fun.
Already, some consumer-oriented review sites such as Angie’s List, etc. allow service providers to “officially respond” to user’s rants and questions. It makes perfect sense to extend this to the wider realm of blogs and even mainstream news articles.
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Todd,
Tom (my new PR hero) is correct - everything within reason posted on the ‘Net should be a living document and allow for feedback/interaction.
I was a bit sleep deprived at the event, but I thought you said it would take 5-10 years for a social media press release that allows comments/objections/clarifications to be in common usage.
Why not now? At least, why don’t we provide that mechanism now?
Thanks for the support Todd. You and your team continue to impress me with your quick ability to forge ahead with new ideas!
The Right to Respond Should be a Fundamental Right of the Internet
At the Newcomm Forum in Las Vegas this week, I kept hearing a lament that is all too common: how to deal with with negative or incorrect content about a company and its products on search engine results? Especially if those negative links a…
Yeah! And I wanna be able to put Postit notes on the Mona Lisa. I wanna tag the Empire State Building. Hey, ya know what; I think we should start this movement by everyone committing to peeing on his/her neighbor’s lawn!
Excuse me… HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? A fundamental right to fuck with someone else’s property? What are you thinkin’?
- Amanda
Here I go whipping a dead horse again. Todd, you know I support all things social and cannot deny that things are moving in that direction. That said…my dead horse sentence is…”companies can do this already…and they don’t want to.”
Much like the strategy around social media releases and newsrooms…the technology is already there and the demand from customers ISN’T.
A company already has the “right to respond” without having to wear a stupid badge to do it. If they’re monitoring the web, which they should be doing, they’re making choices every day to respond “officially” either in blog comments, or in the case of larger kerfuffles, via their own corporate website.
What am I missing? Everyone, whether individual or corporate, has the ability and the “right” to respond already!!!
Amanda, Dee -
I think you’re missing Tom’s point. I can’t speak for him, but, I believe what he is striving for is a way to prove AUTHENTICITY and FAIRNESS.
Authenticity of authorship (i.e., I am an official representative, and/or the “actual” individual in question).
Fairness in regards to defending one’s self or one’s company from unfair or innacurate remarks, AT the source of those remarks.
I think whether or not a blogger/news source decied to ALLOW that Right-to-Respond capability would be up to them. It would need to catch on.