How to keep your blog out of court

Avoid legal snafus when creating a corporate blog; some thoughts on why corporate blogs are such a bore; Obama’s own speechwriter in the spotlight

Keep your blog out of court: Marketing Sherpa offers advice for avoiding legal snafus when you’re creating a corporate blog. One suggestion: Don’t be too quick to get involved in editing comments. “The more you monitor and regulate user content on your site, the more you’re liable for what is said. … As soon as you begin deciding which comments stay and which comments go, you become more responsible for every comment on the site,” says the article.

Why are corporate blogs so lifeless? Robert Scoble, blogging evangelist and former high-tech exec, says moist companies don’t quite know what to do with their blogs. “Some blogs are like press releases,” Scoble tells CIO Insight. “New, friendly, cuddly press releases, but they’re still only talking about what’s happening in the company and its products. The really hard thing, the thing I haven’t seen too many people do, is what I was trying to do: Be an authority on the marketplace. That really helps a lot.”

Obama as First Speechwriter: In a post-election article called “Battle Plans: How Obama Won,” Patrick Gaspard, political director for the campaign, says that when he was interviewing for the post, the president-elect said, “I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.”

Focus on Favreau: Curious about Obama’s speechwriter Jon Favreau? The 27-year-old speechwriter was profiled in The New York Times earlier this year (thanks to Ian Griffin’s Professionally Speaking blog for the link). The Politico.com Web site speculates that Favreau will land a senior position in the new administration.