Monday 27 November 2006

Blogging

There are approximately 57 million blogs according to recent figures by Technorati (http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000443.html). Given that this figure by far exceeds newspaper circulations it makes sense that PR people are jumping on this technological bandwagon to try and gain more exposure for their clients.

So what are the benefits of blogging? And will it spell the end for traditional media?

Blogging enables companies to inform and educate their audiences and to be able to manage issues as they arise. They are great for creating dialogues with potential customers as well as a good way of gleaning consumer insights about your company. It also cuts out the middle-man who is able to question and change what you say – the journalist.

However, it does only take one person with a complaint or a grudge against your company and before you know it you have lots of angry customers on your hands. These complaints don’t just disappear either. Lots of hits means good search engine optimisation and complaints can hang around on the internet for a very long time.

As newspaper circulation figures fall and computer usage – especially amongst young people – rises, can we expect to start seeing newspapers folding? The latest newspaper ABC figures certainly go some way in supporting this (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,1782,00.html) and it will be worth keeping an eye on the Technorati figures to see how this trend progresses.