The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone. Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman. Companies that assume online markets are the same markets that used to watch their ads on television are kidding themselves.
Companies can now communicate with their markets directly.
If they blow it, it could be their last chance. Companies need to realize their markets are often laughing. Companies need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously. They need to get a sense of humor. Getting a sense of humor does not mean putting some jokes on the corporate web site.