Cluetrain 10 years on: Markets are still conversations

This month marks the tenth birthday of the Cluetrain Manifesto, those 95 theses meant to explain the web to corporations—and to explode corporate-speak online.

The web landscape has changed, of course. The web is social now, and in 10 years some corporate culture has absorbed the lessons of the manifesto: how the web flattens hierarchies, the importance of the individual voice. While some organziations get it, the lessons of Cluetrain just are as applicable now—especially to nonprofits turning to Twitter, Facebook and blogs.

Michael Mace of Rubicon Consulting put together a 10 Commandments version that distills the thinking of the original manifesto—and cuts through the bombast to the pieces most applicable to us even today.

1. Engage, don’t sell
2. Be yourself
3. Speak as individuals
4. Never lie
5. Don’t be afraid of passion
6. Set your employees free
7. The Internet strengthens great brands—and destroys false ones
8. Forget about mass markets
9. Remember that the Internet is still evolving
10. Don’t mistake the web for the real world

Mace’s version has brief explanations of each of these points, so head over to the original for more of this good stuff.