Target-ing the Wrong Guys

Recently, my attention has been brought to an article on The New York Times website entitled "Target tells blogger to go away." This article outlines Target's response to criticism from a blog, saying among other things, "Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets." Many people left comments at the end of the article, agreeing with Target's response and suggesting that blogs and other similar media should not have the same respect as traditional media sources. But is this the right way to think in our technological world? Should companies really ignore criticism just because it is coming from a source that has not been incorporated into our traditional paradigm?

It is true that some blogs merely show people's mindless opinions and do not have much relevance to large companies; it is also true that many blogs deal with and highlight issues that should be of top importance to corporations around the world. Customer service surveys have become a very common way for companies to get feedback from their customers - how are blogs any different? If a blogger takes the time to confront an issue, it should matter just as much as a survey or any of the recorded customer service calls that are reviewed.

Our world is constantly changing and technology is a big part of that change. Social media has taken over the way we communicate and I am not just talking about blogs - Facebook, MySpace and YouTube are some of the most popular destinations on the web. If you take a look at any of these sites, you will see large amounts of advertising lining the pages, and advertisers wouldn't waste their time or money if they weren't generating business. So if advertisers have jumped on the bandwagon and so have millions of people around the world, maybe corporations need to re-evaluate what a traditional media outlet really is. In fact, I hardly think that ten years ago Target was thinking of creating a website, but I'd like to see the figures on how much profit the executives have made from that very thing.

Running away from criticism has never advanced a company - no matter what outlet it comes from.