The Internet has perpetrated a prank on us.
They — the Internet founders, early Web site developers, etc. — got us all to believe that the Internet is free. We deserve free access to information. We deserve to interact and exchange information freely via discussion boards, forums, IMs. We deserve free music downloads and the ability to freely share songs (until the music industry became involved, that is).
We were led to believe that if it’s published on a Web site, then we are entitled to access to that information, images, video, music, whatever.
That feeling is very persvasive still today throughout the Internet.
Even traditional media like daily newspapers fell for that prank. Stu Bykofsky in a Philadelphia Daily News column says:
“They (newspapers) give away their product for free on the Internet, then run in circles squawking like chickens when circulation goes down like the Titanic.
Even the dimmest hooker knows to get paid upfront.
‘Put the money on the dresser, honey.’
But suicidal corporate geniuses leaped into the Internet before figuring how to get the money off the dresser. Because everyone else was doing it, newspapers raced to post content on the Net for free, which is like burning furniture to warm your house. Eventually you’re left in the cold with no place to sit.”
For another example, look back a few months at the outcry from bloggers when they learned that DaimlerChrysler’s media-only blog — www.thefirehouse.biz — is open only to members of the media.
How dare DCX close a blog to allow private one-on-one interaction between the company and the media who cover it? Doesn’t DCX know that we have a right to view everything on Internet, especially a blog! The nerve! (Though, according to DCX’s Ed Garsten, who oversees the blog, legitimate and pertinent bloggers and online media members are being allowed access.)
Or, how about the recent bruhaha over Steve Rubel/Micropersuasion’s efforts to push the PR industry to taking advantage of and use social media technologies.
He took his “call to action” to a larger audience via a “PR Week” column.
Boy oh boy, did Rubel get blasted — and here, too, among others — for the way he tried to organized this PR industry push.
“I would like to invite Richard Edelman and Phil Gomes from Edelman, Tom Biro from MWW, John Bell from Ogilvy PR, Niall Cook from H&K, Richard Cline from Voce and other ‘new media’ gurus from the PR agency world . . . to join me on a private Writeboard wiki where we can brainstorm some joint action initiatives to immerse PR pros. Then we can take these concepts and present them to a larger group to weigh in.”
And:
“So far we have three individuals who work at mid-large size PR firms participating. I would love to see more of us join in the discussion. If you work at a midsize or large PR firm (e.g. 15 or more employees) please email me to get involved.”
Okay, so Rubel was arrogant in his call to action by excluding small firms and solo practitioners. He could’ve gotten his point across about the need for PR to be open to blogging and other sociable media, and started his effort privately.
While his method is very questionnable, why does (or did) he have to open up the New PR Wiki to everyone? Who says he has to?
Who says others can’t do the same thing?!
Why are so many seemingly so outraged about it?
You are not entitled to be included.
Oh yeah, I forgot. This is the Internet. We are entitled.
– Mike
Technorati tags: Internet, Newspapers, DaimlerChrysler, Micro Persuasion, BL Ochman, PJeremy Pepper, Much Ado About Marketing, Entitlement
WSJ columnist (and blogger, of course) Jeremy Wagstaff started his own online publication of reviewed technology, Websites and related products and services: tenminut.es.
)