Having glibly introduced the subject of Phorm in the previous post, I spent a little longer looking at the storm brewing around it. Its interesting on a number of levels.
Phorm looks to be following Dell's well trodden path to online purgatory. Of course, Dell has subsequently addressed many of the points that raised the ire of online audiences and has set itself on the path to redemption through a series of communication and listening initiatives.
Aside from bad press (ie here at Techdirt - and look at the comment dialogue too), Phorm has attracted its own following of committed ethical campaigners.
A good place to start is BadPhorm, which then links off to Stop Phorm Bebo groups, petitions on the No.10 Downing St site to the UK PM (I signed up), and other many sites including the Anti-Phorm League, DePhormation (which offers tools to disable Phorm in Firefox).
That's quite an array of adversaries and online weaponry being aimed at Phorm. But as hyperactive as activitists become on these topics, I'm always struck how inert the mass majority can be around often intangible concepts like privacy or security. In many ways, Phorm shows the growing sophistication of online activitism and makes Dell Hell now seem simply like a bunch of moaning bloggers. Interesting to see whether the activists involved can fire up the mass majority to join the groundswell.
PR Week reports that Phorm has hired various new PR advisors this week. They aren't companies I would have classed as digital specialists. Interesting to see how they stem the tide online.
So the Phorm Storm (sorry) looks like becoming the next Dell Hell case study, although at the moment, obviously, the final outcome is unknown.
But for social media observers its definitely a situation to monitor and come back to.
btw - my crisis management lesson #1 - don't choose a company name that lends itself to so many easy puns.
Tags: Phorm, Dell Hell, privacy