Consumer generated content...ah, it's finally an era of we media, right? The customer is in control? They now have a voice?
A report on NPR this morning got me thinking, when is the consumer being used and when are they being celebrated? And is it OK for brands, media companies, etc to use/abuse them, as long as they're complicit in it?
NPR reported on the recent decision by the San Francisco Chronicle to begin podcasting some of the comments and feedback they receive from readers. The material is neatly packaged under the title " Correct Me If I'm Wrong". Seems harmless enough, and it indicates that perhaps the Chronicle will embrace opportunities to "stand corrected". But a recent comment they received from one particularly vitriolic reader was broadcast not because it offered a valid opinion (in their minds), but rather because the staff at the Chronicle seemed to be interested in letting the world laugh at this pedantic, overzealous reader-as-editor. The reader's message was in fact SO popular, that someone even made a Youtube video out of it - which the paper was kind enough to include on their site.
Does it feel to anyone else like they're getting a lot of mileage out of some poor guy's diatribe? Sure, sure, I know as a Planner that I'm a customer evangelist, but I don't think the caller deserves to be made a fool of because he offered feedback, especially when he was unaware that it would become fodder for a new podcast. And why is it that when a media outlet coopts the customer's voice the coverage is positive....could a brand every get away with it?
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