Blog off?

At its simplest level, a weblog or “blog” is a diary or journal. It can be run with software that is readily available and cheap. Blogs can be frequently updated, sorted, indexed and linked to other sites across the web - without the need for a PhD in html coding! While many are purely personal, others are professional or academic in nature. A blog audience might vary from a select family group to thousands of interested readers.

On the surface, blogging often looks like a geek-chic pastime – vanity publishing for the mass market. Blogs are much more than that though. Blogs allow consumers, who have become more demanding and willing to complain, to connect with others in an environment that is unfiltered and viral by nature. In an online world where everyone can - and does - have an opinion on everything from washing powder to war, consumers are taking the reins. Word-of-mouth is taking on new proportions.

Recent statistics from the Pew Internet & American Life project reveals that 32 million internet users are now regular blog readers but 62% of online Americans still do not know what a blog is. Forrester Research data from the US in 2004 revealed that, while blog awareness and usage is small, those internet users who have heard about or used blogs are young and influential. Similar to Malcolm Gladwell’s “mavens” – blog users are the information gatherers of the network. They evaluate, discuss and circulate ideas.

Consumers have the ability to get information about anything they want via the internet, before they leave the house with wallet in hand. Will the carefully targetted press release or full colour press ad ultimately have as much impact as a pageful of reviews, opinions and tips gleaned from a quick search on Google? Your consumers may have to dig even deeper to find your brand’s message beneath all this consumer chat. Blog writers are prolific: some sites refresh daily (even hourly) and will therefore be top-of-page on most search engine results. Blogs are being talked about because the consumers - not brands or the traditional media - control the messages.

Is this a positive development or, as Geeta Dayal asks in the Village Voice , is it “intellectual utopia” versus “total chaos”? How do you police the opinionated? Can you control what this consumer-generated medium is saying about you, your brand or service? Bad news travels fast online (in whatever format), so blogging may seem like a threat. According to blog search engine, Technorati , at last count there were 70,000 new blogs created each day with almost 30,000 updates an hour. Who is blogging about you? Good news travels fast too, there is room for curiosity as well as fear. A willingness to blog and be "blogged about" could be like having 24-hour access to a global focus group.

Consider having your own corporate blog, where you can "hear" exactly what consumers are saying. In order to fully embrace the corporate citizenship ideal, brands can use blogs to show that they’re willing to listen, learn and take action. Blogs can be a highly effective customer relationship tool. Honda has sponsored a new blog network site 2TalkAbout/Honda. which is independently run. Honda engineers and associates log-on to contribute and respond to feedback. Guinness too is dipping its toe in the "blogosphere" with some success. AOL’s campaign “discuss”, posits AOL as a socially responsible organisation, inviting users to converse with established authors and journalists and contribute to the discussion about the positive or negative impact of the internet.

By design, blogging invites discourse and provides an opportunity to speak directly with your customers. Monitor it in the same way as traditional, passive media but use it actively.

Named by William Quick in 2002 , the “blogosphere” has quickly altered the media landscape. It has facilitated consumer-driven input and interactivity. Sky News’ political editor, Adam Boulton, believes that consumer technology has forced journalism to change from a “push” to a “pull” approach. To get the information to the public, it has to be in the format the public want to use. The audience is boss. Boulton creates podcasts and a daily weblog to complement the live show on Sky TV. As stories air, viewers can post comments or send mobile phone pictures (“moblog”): speedy “letters to the Editor”, if you like. Thirty bloggers were even admitted to the US Democratic National Convention in 2004 as registered members of the press. The Guardian newspaper has launched a reader/journalist blog site "Comment is Free". Far from usurping the media and government, the technology and its heroes are being embraced. It has become a valuable source of feedback and social observation.

Blogging is concrete evidence of the networked society, its success comes from bringing disparate groups together online. It’s worth watching as a medium, keep an eye on it. At its best, blogging can be a source of underground news, satire and rebellion. In China and Iran for example, blogs are providing independent and alternative voices. It will impact on politics, corporate communications, mainstream media and social research.

Ultimately, a blog is a new tool to experiment with in the communication mix. Blogs are only ever as good as their authors and contributors.