The Bustle Mess: Where the Communication Failed

Not to belabor the point, but...written communication is much different than interpersonal communication. I read an article today at Business Insider about Bryan Goldberg's apology. What struck me most was what the writer had to say about the very public, very embarrassing, launch.

The writer described the attributes confidence, wit and smarts and applied the to Goldberg. The best way to find out things like that is to listen to someone speak in a conversational setting. Then the listener can hear the inflection of the voice, watch the non-verbal communication, like facial expression, and participate in the verbal cues of conversation, like laughter, instead of the written LOL.

It's possible Goldberg thought his written words were pithy, smart and conveyed the idea that got him the VC funding. Unfortunately for him, sarcasm and wit don't necessarily translate to paper in the same way as an interview might have. And he was crucified for it. Enter the apology. Offending your peers and your target market can kill a business, and in the majority of cases one would think that will happen to Bustle. That remains to be seen.

The second part of Goldberg's apology dealt with dissing the entire group of women's publications, online and offline. I know that if I had provided the marketing analysis of the competitive landscape for Bustle and then read the launch materials, I would have been very confused. His assertion that Vogue writers don't own part of their company came across and snarky and elitist when I read it, and he did apologize for attacking his competitors.

The key issue here is whether the written communication is now something one can trust. It's easy to correct a mistake with a cracker jack crises PR team, and, call me jaded, but after having their names splashed all over the internet as the idiot VC's who supported a guy who came off as the world's biggest misogynist jerk, I'm sure somebody made a call or two to rectify the situation and salvage some hope of getting their money back. But loss of trust is a lot to overcome, for me or for anyone else.