I disagree. The challenge is not "involving your corporate culture in social media." The problem is that many corporate cultures are inherently anti-social.

Let's answer these questions again:

1. When should we jump into social media? You already have, you just don't know it.. Your employees and customers and the public are already talking about you on social media, but you may not be participating as an institution.

2. Should the CEO have a blog? Should upper management have a blog? Maybe even the peons? The technology doesn't matter, it's the sharing that is important. As Pete Cashmore says, Not sharing means not existing.. You don't need to require everyone to blog, but you ought to encourage them to speak freely in any medium they choose.

3. Should the blog be Internal or External or BOTH!? You can't control information anyway. See question 6, as well as the entire history of information technology.

4. How do we combine a work tool with a social tool? The same way you combine work with everyday conversation, by embracing social behavior. People go to lunch together, chat around the water cooler, take breaks and still do amazing things.

5. Should Sharepoint be used as a social media tool? Sharepoint is not a social media platform, it's a top-down publishing environment. The most successful communities are ones that that are not controlled by anyone else.

6. How do we manage and protect proprietary information on social media platforms? You're right on here, Kyle. You can't bottle and lock up information.

The rapid growth of this technology is forcing organizations to recognize our collective humanity at a much faster pace than anticipated. Corporations aren't afraid of social media. They are afraid of their stakeholders being too social.

Wait, I thought we we all people at heart? You know, "people first, customers/salesman/business owners second?" :-)

But virtually every project needs strategy, planning and implementation. Now you are strategizing about how to speak plainly, planning to speak plainly, and then actually going out and speaking plainly!

I actually think it's helpful that marketers don't speak plainly. I *like* knowing when I'm receiving a commercial message versus one that doesn't hope that I buy anything.

The reason that marketers can't speak human is that using plain language automatically discounts the needs for marketing professionals. Why hire someone to write your marketing copy if they are just going to tell it straight?

The title of this post is misleading. It suggest that "Quality, Service, and Expertise Do Not Matter." But of course, these do matter and they are a key factor for differentiating businesses.

The reality is that talking about quality, service and expertise is not a fruitful exercise. It's a form of Brandon's Rule.

I'm saddened to hear about the threats. This proves that people take contests seriously and that any apparent malfeasance will not go unnoticed.

I wrote a thorough response to this episode called Contesting the Contests.

If only Doug's time were freely available!

Laws about disclosure are kind of like laws about copyright: they don't actually make sense, but they are enforceable when publishing is expensive and controlled by only a few people. You cannot contain and regulate information. Until we realize that information is not property and veracity cannot be enforced, we will continue have silly, ineffectual laws like this one.

While I applaud the federal government for acknowledging that meaningful trade, commerce and conversation occurs over the Internet, this law is mindboggling. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you receive some dispensation for promoting a cause on the web, disclosure is now required by law.

This is wholly untenable, because value can neither be measured nor contained. I may say here (without provocation) that "Brandswag is awesome!" If Kyle later sends me a referral, must I admit that I once posted here? What if an idle comment spawns a business idea?

And if it is only a planned exchange that breaks the law, all we have to do is reduce formality. "I'll send you a product for to review, and when you are done you can either return it or destroy it (wink wink) so there's no net value to you."

The death of Napster did not kill file sharing; it is more rampant than ever. The FTC will not enforce authenticity and transparency. Instead, the social web will demand it, just as it has in in person for all of human history.

We use a ROWE model and we interact with clients in person. We just don't interact with them on an as-needed, emergency response basis.____I'll be so bold as to say that any business that doesn't trade in on-site emergency response can be completely results-oriented.