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Where should conversations take place?

In a recent post, I noted that most news releases are not seen in their original format – they are re-purposed by various sites.  The same is true of blog posts: a blogger’s work is often re-posted in the ubiquitous “Links of the Week” posts of their fellow online authors; or, the blogger’s post is picked up by digg/reddit/newsvine; or, their post drives a meme in which other bloggers respond and react in their own forums.

But when a blog post or news release is re-purposed – say, on digg – these aggregators are not only collecting & voting on news; they also serve as community hubs ... And thus – as Allen Stern persuasively railed back in January – the blogger or corporation whose content is featured on digg may not benefit in terms of traffic, nor in terms of building their own community, at the original source of the content.  (Google adds to the challenge, due to its algorithm’s high regard for Digg results.) 

Maybe that’s okay?  Maybe the “discontinuous conversation” is part-and-parcel of the Social Media Era? 

Certainly few content-creators complain, as Allen did, about being dugg!

Still, this could become an issue for PR agencies and brand managers.  Keeping tabs on the conversations could become exponentially more difficult as these aggregators proliferate.  And, the loss-of-control that we’re already facing up to in the Marketing Industry could extend to giving up on the idea that original, unique content will drive traffic and community.

That doesn’t mean we give up on creating great content; it means we give up trying to influence where that content gets used & discussed.

Community happens.  And the community members get to decide “where.”  If our content finds its way into their treehouses, that’s great, but they’re not going to climb outta the trees to re-create their community & dialogue where we’d want them to.