A couple of recently published articles make an interesting point about the costliness of not blogging. 

On Wednesday, AppleInsider published a story about Apple's aversion to social networking and corporate blogging. Longtime employee and iChat architect Jens Alfke was quoted as having made the decision to leave Apple because it was becoming harder for him to develop social software.

The Mac maker rarely allows non-executives to present themselves as Apple employees in public and extends that policy to blogging. Even publicly available information is likely to face a challenge from a superior, Alfke says. While many blog anonymously, other firms often allow their employees to mention where they work and to discuss public projects. Some firms also go so far as to maintain official company blogs, such as Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog or smartphone maker Palm's official blog.

By contrast, Apple employees are often reluctant to write even after they leave, the software blogger explains.

Alfke goes on to decry the anti-blogging stance as "one of the least enlightened" in the industry.  If you read the comments you'll find plenty of readers who questioned whether Apple's closed culture really mattered because the company seemed to be doing so well in spite of it.

A recent blog posting by Patrick Altoft provides a powerful argument against Alfke's detractors by making a case for the marketing value of blogging.  He points to the impact on Apple's stock price in May 2007 after Engadget reported a rumors of a delay in the release of its iPhone.  Although the report was quickly discredited, Apple's share price dipped, resulting in the rapid loss of $4 billion in market capitalization. 

It was a costly, short-term problem that could have been easily avoided with clearer channels of communication, something that could have been fostered by developer blogs.  While it's true that Apple managed to recover, few companies out there have been able to match Apple's amazing streak of home runs over the past nine years.

If your company doesn't step up to tell it's story, someone else will do it for you, in a way that may not be favorable to your company.  Blogs allow your employees to provide a human angle that press releases and advertising simply cannot offer. 

While some companies, like Apple, might be able to resist blogging, not every company can count on slam dunks without end to get it right.  When viewed from this angle, corporate blogs look more and more like a wise investment.