Thoughts on Groundswell and an Analysis of the Infosys Blog

The Groundswell begins with the realization that corporations no longer have control over media as it once had. This is particularly bad for media companies – as an example we are informed about how the key to DVD locks was subverted by insurgent bloggers and ‘Digg’ers. But emerging IT based social technology does provide the means for a more closer interaction with the world outside. Blogs, for example, are one of the new channels through which one can communicate with the outside world at a much more intimate level.

Wait, Bollywood Stars are already doing that in India. There is Aamir Khan’s blog. And Amitabh Bachchan’s. But hey, it is not just Bollywood stars who are using blogs to bypass conventional media to communicate directly with the stars. There is also Nandan Nilenkani, cofounder and head of Infosys who is promoting his book Imagining India through a blog. But I had never encountered any Indian corporation trying to engage through the blog format  like we see in the United States.

A quick random search revealed that Infosys, Nilekani’s company, also has a blog – Think Flat. So I thought that it might be a good idea to check out the blog and see how it stand on a few basic parameters which could reveal its effectiveness.

Basic stuff like did it update frequently?

Content – The blog provided no information on whats happening within Infosys. Rather, it provides opinion pieces on the world outside. It seemed, in its initial days in 2006, to be oriented around drawing popular attention as the informers of the “The World is Flat” concept. It still is trying to carry forward the concept and trying to fit it into the current recessionary world context. But the frequency of the blog posts have declined to only once a month.

Were its readers involved? I didn’t find too many people leaving comments, but the few comments which were there seemed to be well-thought out and informed. That speaks of high levels of engagement with a small group but provides no notion of how popular the blog might be. At another level, with the ridiculously low levels of referencing in the blog, I dont see any reason why anybody should reserve any sort of credibility for what this blog is talking about.

As a mouthpiece to promote the flatness of the world to a wide audience, this attempt is meaningless. Thomas Friedman’s book was much more effective. I am not even sure if the blog could potentially be effective in directly reaching out to its corporate customers. As an indirect means of influencing opinion, by reaching out to employees who work in the offices of its corporate customers, it is not being invested in enough. It just wont have the sort of visibility outside the captive audience of 100,000 employees.

For a previous review of the Infosys blog go here