I think it’s debatable whether the best source of support information is rarely the company, though there are without a doubt companies where that is true.

The trick with harnessing crowdsourcing is the same as it is with the broader web. Some information is great and some is garbage. So, for companies that care, there is still an important role for technical communicators, though an increasing part of that role will be acting as a curator, collecting, editing, and organizing information that originated outside the company.

Writing will still be important; after all, customers are not generally screened for writing ability:), but I think it will be a smaller and smaller part of the job.

In particular,

- Listen first: The “prosumer,” “empowered customer,” or “power user” will react badly to anyone who simply barges into the conversation. Spend some time listening to the conversation, then decide what the best way is to participate.

- Look for existing communities: The odds are good that customers are already talking about your products and have formed either informal or formal communities around them.

There’s no real difference in the way either marketers or technical communicators should begin to approach Social Media. This fact suggests there is an opportunity for marketing, technical communication, and support to collaborate productively.

Users often end up talking about your products because they have technical questions or problems. While it can be dangerous to try and graft a marketing message onto a technical response, it is reasonable for these three organizations to work together to make sure that the technical and marketing messages are consistent and build on one another. Since there are almost surely multiple communities, each with a different focus, some planning as to where to participate, and who should take the lead in each forum, will lead to a better strategy than just having each organization dive it wherever they want.

A good resource concerning the intersection of marketing, technical communication, and support is Anne Gentle’s new book, Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation. Full disclosure, my company published her book, but I think it is pertinent to this discussion. More information is available at: http://xmlpress.net/conversation.html.

I thought about starting my own blog too but I’m just too lazy so, I guess I‘ll just have to keep checking yours out.
LOL,

…..Frank Scurley