Idea 47: alqaeda.typepad.com
Bin Laden announcing the launch of the new Al-Qaeda blog, yesterday
Al-Qaeda has, for all its faults, an exceptionally effective communications strategy. They produce engaging content, all of which is clear, to the point, and very motivating. They produce 2-3 high impact films a year which garner immediate and widespread coverage. They produce content that lives on beyond its time online and is passed through communities. They have devolved power and creation of some of this content to 'brand supporters' - their own unique version of user-generated content. And they stay true to who they are. You know an Al-Qaeda film when you see one.
And yet despite being at the forefront of the new world of communication, as far as I can tell they haven't adopted blogging as a potentially useful communications device. This is odd because they have quite a big PR job to do still.
A lot of modern corporations use blogs as a way of showing the world their 'human' side. The people and activities that go on in the background. Al-Qaeda should set up their own blog to share with the world what they get up to behind all that posturing and fighting: the work parties, the emergence of new ideas and have them debated in the open, regular George Bush joke pieces, how they decorate their caves to make them more workable in, and so on.
This way they might be able to reach even more people, and pitch themselves as the more approachable of the two fundamentalists trying to dominate the world-stage.
Feasibility rating: 6
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Comments
This is a bad idea.
People who blog are inherently lovable, and everything that appears on a blog has a natural merit. If Al Qaeda begin to blog, they could no longer be the enemy. Instead, they would be another Citizen of the Blogosphere, and, therefore, above reproach.
Beeker. Welcome. Nice to have you here.
I'd be surprised if there is anyone in the world who doesn't think Vox is a clapped out and annoyingly shit blog system. So I apologise on behalf of, well myself, for hosting this site here.
Good point on becoming their friend. Although this was an attempt to redress the potential fatwa-inducing harm of a couple of previous ideas including 'Carry on up the Al-Qaeda', 'Christian Strippers' and 'Fundamentalist board games'.
Either way, part of me would love it if this blog somehow got back to a cave in Afghanistan as being one to watch. Ha ha!!
By the way, apologies in advance, but I can't make coffee on Friday. Hope all goes well though.
Hello Thunk.
Hadn't thought of Al-Qaeda as being like Marmite but I think you've hit the nail on the head.
They could appropriate that old ad that had the soldiers running along singing 'My Mate Marmite'. But obviously not with British soldiers.