Thoughts on Blogging

In a culture where so many people have access to computers, it seems like reading blogs has become the preferred way of getting information, instead of reading the morning paper. Unlike news articles, blogs can facilitate an online community, where bloggers and readers can have back and forth conversation. In fact, a blog has excelled when the conversation is enabled by the blogger but dominated by readers. Blog posts are concise, giving people the necessary information along with direct links to sources. To put it simply, bloggers are the link between readers and the sources of information.

The Huffington Post covers topics such as entertainment, sports, and politics. The headlines are succinct, and there is a column of featured posts. Each post is truncated, but there are links that allow the reader to view the entire post. Each post garners several reader comments, indicating how the blog excels at discussing compelling topics. On the other hand, Jack Box’s blog, a marketing scheme from the restaurant Jack in the Box, is an example of one that does not excel. The last post was created on February 13, 2007 and consists of one sentence requesting “Cheeseburger Poetry.” There are no links to information or analysis presented, and the blog is very outdated.

In the field of public relations, PR professionals can utilize blogs to post press releases and company information in order to create a positive image. Moreover, having company members contribute to blogs allows readers to put a personality behind the name, and therefore the audience builds trust in that company. Blogs may soon become a very valuable tool to the PR field.

In this generation, blogging may soon overtake newspapers to present information to the public. Due to its sense of community and the convenience to readers, blogs seem like a more practical option.