Date: Fri 21-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-Cluetrain-Manifesto

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: The Cluetrain Manifesto

By Bob Brand

"People of the earth... A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the

Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant

knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter

-- and getting smarter faster than most companies." This is the opening shot

at the website Cluetrain.com.

Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger have put

together a document capturing the frustrations many active web-surfers

experience when they attempt to interact with most large corporations through

their websites. Its name is the Cluetrain Manifesto.

Off To A Poor Start

It is not unusual to have excessive difficulty obtaining answers to simple

questions from large corporations or organizations. Here is a recent example:

As a member of a Y2K committee at a university in the area, I learned that the

manager of one of the laboratories was sent a quotation for software that

would bring recently purchased equipment into compliance. I attempted to reach

the "inside salesperson" for clarification on the nature of the software. Two

voice messages resulted in no return phone call.

On call number three, it was learned that the "inside salesperson" was on

vacation. I was given the car phone number of the "field salesperson." A call

to the "field salesperson" resulted in another voice message, only this time

the cost to leave a message would be $.90. Wow! Grab a clue! This kind of

thing goes on all the time. A website could be used to answer routine

questions. However, the use of websites to effectively communicate between

vendors and consumers leaves room for massive improvement.

Treated Like A Number?

Frustrations similar to mine have boiled over into the generation of the 95

theses called the Cluetrain Manifesto. It was posted on their website with

ringing endorsement from the Internet community. Here is a sampling of the

document.

Thesis:

2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors. I sense a

"dehumanizing" of goods and services from large corporations as many employees

lose a sense of loyalty to their organizations. When the boss talks about

"making the numbers," the customers (you and me) are now "the numbers."

Thesis:

12. There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do

about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell

everyone. Is this ever true! Listservs and Usenet newsgroups provide immediate

feedback from users of products and their satisfaction level.

Thesis:

44. Companies typically install intranets top-down to distribute human

resources policies and other corporate information that workers are doing

their best to ignore. Many corporations both large and small have networked

PCs together. Rarely, however, do they train employees how to use these

resources. The idea is that "everyone knows how to use a browser, right?"

Wrong. Not only that, but the information that rides on the network is ignored

when it is out of date, irrelevant, or droll. Misuse of networking resources

remains a significant problem that is being under-reported by most

organizations.

Thesis:

69. Maybe you're impressing your investors. Maybe you're impressing Wall

Street. You're not impressing us. It is very apparent that a significant

reason why some corporate websites exist is an attempt to "put on a good face"

for the stockholders and the investment community. Customers of these

organizations take a back seat -- way back. For example, if a company

manufactures household appliances, why not have web pages that list the models

and parts lists (with the opportunity to order parts) so that the customer can

get their hands on a replacement part and fix the gadget. Get a clue!

Thesis:

77. You're too busy "doing business" to answer our email? Oh gosh, sorry, gee,

we'll come back later. Maybe. Folks who use the Internet are accustomed to

e-mail being answered. That is just the way it is. The inaction of any

business person who has decided to ignore e-mail inquiries speaks volumes

about an organization. A company that does not answer its e-mail does not

deserve your business.

Thesis:

83. We want you to take 50 million of us as seriously as you take one reporter

from The Wall Street Journal. Playing to the cameras and microphones -- just

spell my name right! -- has become corporate culture in many sectors. When

hype replaces substance, the ubiquitous availability of information from the

Net can derail wrongheaded ideas and faulty products.

A fundamental change in the way people buy goods and services has bubbled up

the demand/supply chain. Through the force of the Internet, many on the demand

side are now armed with sharpened tools poised to make more informed

decisions. The supply side ignores this shift at its peril. This thought is

captured in the Cluetrain Manifesto in this insightful comment: "We are not

seats or eyeballs or consumers. We are human beings -- and our reach exceeds

your grasp. Deal with it.

Read the Manifesto. If it strikes a chord, sign it.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest, http://www.cluetrain.com.

(This is the 155th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Onelist is the next subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next week,

happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for Real

People can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and

suggestions to: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.