If companies continue to see blogging and other user generated content as a “personal” or “hobbyist” activity, then they will be doomed to a perpetual “spinning out of control” with bloggers and content.

However, if they recognize this form of communication as a formal business function–like your beloved Excel–then it takes a much different tone.

If you give someone the job of blogging–even if it’s in addition to their other roles–and the company is behind it, they are likely to garner a far larger reader-base (emotional reward) and be less inclined to use company time for their own personal blogs (focused effort).

The current perspective is flawed. That’s all I was trying to say. Think Scoble, not Dooce.

You can get crazy mallicious in Excel, and it just never seems to spiral out of control. It’s only when you plug it into the giant pipes that it runs the risk of taking on a life of it’s own.

I’m thinking more about the question of original thought and expresssion than tool use. (And this from an Excel junky).

Think about it.