stedavies.com - communications consultant

Shel Holtz is questioning if the credibility of the GM Fastlane blog is at risk due to it not discussing the 30,000 layoffs the company is planning on the blog. He also points to Debbie Weil’s and Dave Taylor’s disagreement over the issue. Saying that Dave thinks the GM blog is blowing it for not discussing the issue, while Debbie says to give it time.

Firstly, I think you would have to look at the blog itself – what is it used for? Is it to only talk about new products? Or does it cover a wide area of the business?

If it is only used as a feedback mechanism to talk about new products to customers and doesn’t cover the business overall, then no, it shouldn’t have to address the layoffs. Why should it? If it hasn’t in the past, why should it now?

If it does indeed cover other aspects of the business (which the Fastlane blog seems to do) then yes it should address the layoffs. Just like they would issue a press release, hold a press conference or make a statement by any other means.

But I also agree with Debbie asking people to have a little patience. Obviously it’s trying times for GM, and right now they’re probably working out the best strategy to cope with the issue. No doubt the blog will be involved in that strategy. Let’s hope so, because if they continue to not address it, then it could indeed put a big dent in the credibility of the blog.

Shel also wonders if they have been filtering the comments. He says: “But some reader must have offered a comment that read something like, ‘If you listened more to your customers, you may not have had to resort to a huge layoff to save the company.’ No such references appear. Has nobody; not one commenter used that word?”

Laurie Mayers from the Fastlane blog has commented on Shel’s post assuring that nothing is filtered.

In blog terms, it will be very interesting to see the outcome to this. What will happen if they do or don’t address it; what type of comments will they get? Will they respond? How will they respond? Will they filter?

Layoffs are a part of business and most companies are susceptible to them. But it’s what a company does and how it reacts to the issues that can determine the outcome. This is where good PR planning and skills come in. So all you ‘PR is dead’ dreamers take note, particularly Dave (after careful consideration I still think PR is dead) Taylor. Let’s see how the company handle their layoffs in the offline world as well as the online. PR works in both.

Technorati tags:
gmblog, fastlane,