Blogging as Marketing

I've come across two items recently that struck me as the eventual downfall of blogging. 1) Seth Godin (whom I think writes an interesting blog and interesting books) suggests that all CEOs write a blog to communicate with customers and give actual feedback on how things work at their companies. 2) A marketing group that was presenting to us about increasing awareness for a community in which we build homes suggested that we utilize blogs to reach potential clients.

These both seem, in abstract, like reasonable ideas -- but they seem to be heading down the same slope that has rendered product reviews all over the web useless.

To be fair, the marekting group was very clear that all posts to blogs should be clearly identified as a person who was representing the community and Godin wasn't really suggesting that CEOs will write their own blogs, just musing that it would be brilliant if they would do it.

It would be nice if true openness and honesty existed throughout the web and you could/would trust what you read there. It was believed that the annonymity of the web would provide the perfect environment for people to be open and honest, but instead it has created an environment that permits liars to make all sorts of claims hidden behind a mask of pretend honesty.

Perheaps the next generation of the web will be different.