This story about the math deficiencies of Verizon customer service representatives came to my attention a few weeks ago. The story is from 2006, but it's still making the rounds in one form or another, which just demonstrates the permanence of the web. Here's the viral video that first introduced me to the story:
If you notice, in his Verizon Math blog, his account was settled within days of beginning the blog. I have to wonder if this was a response to his phone and letter complaints or if it was the popularity of his blog that prompted such quick attention from the company.
Another awe-inspiring story is that of this mom. In October 2008, she started a blog to campaign against Carter's (the children's clothing line) tagless clothes after her daughter developed a "burn" from wearing the clothes. Her story and the subsequent others that cropped up in response prompted Carter's to issue a voluntary recall of the tagless line in question. Within weeks of the initial blog posting, Moms could return the clothes, in any condition, to the company for a refund--not a merchandise credit but a check for the suggested retail value of returned each item--without having to produce a reciept. This was a huge loss to the company but important for damage control. Damage caused by a concerned mother with Web 2.0 power.
These stories are a dime a dozen, but each one is important to the company involved. I imagine that corporations are (or will) hiring teams to monitor company exposure in blogs. Blogs empower the consumer like never before and companies are positioning themselves accordingly.
Over the weekend, I bought a baby shower gift for a friend on Babies R' Us and decided to review an item on the site that I had personal experience with. After reviewing the product, I was surprised to find that I could add the review to my blog with the touch of a button.
The conspiracy-theorist in me thinks this "feature" is just a way for Babies R' Us to track the blogs that review its products in an effort to stay ahead of consumers, but it could just be Babies R' Us' way of hyperlinking the heck out of its site and products and increasing its presence in the blogosphere. Either way, blogging is still in its infancy and it's evolving every day. I'm curious what "blogging" will involve in the future and how it'll impact our consumerism even more.
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