The Blog: Offering a Voice

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A Blog refers to a website managed by one or more individuals, allowing this owner or these owners to post information. Content can range from commentary and review to even day-by-day personal writing of an individual’s activities. Used both on a professional and personal level, this tool has offered a chance for more voices to be heard and has changed the way media operates.

Former Press Offered Public Little Say

Before blogs existed, the news corporations exercised nearly all of the control in determining what news would be delivered to the public. Journalists and news corporation employees took into consideration only partially what the public expected to hear while confining to industry limitations. Limitations included availability of personnel at events deemed newsworthy, money, space, time, corporate sponsorships, and many other restrictions that affected what was delivered via the news. One of the biggest challenges with the press, prior to such tools as blogging, included the issue of timing. If a story had not been discovered early enough, referring to the notion that after 24 hours news is old news, it wouldn’t be told. The public had little control over content and had to succumb to the news industry’s selection of material. This was the way the news operated prior to the abundant use of blogs.

Blogging at Work: Trent Lott Case

Trent Lott, former Majority Speaker of Congress, was witness to the power of blogs when the news media failed to step in. After making what many considered a racist comment at Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party, Lott found himself in a position least expected. News covering the event did not take Lott’s commentary to the press, viewing the necessary coverage as reporting the celebration itself as opposed to seeking out controversial statements. While the press failed to report his comments, the bloggers sought to bring the issue to discussion. Shortly after the celebration, bloggers began creating posts discussing Lott’s speech. National press finally recognized the public’s need for coverage on the story and began publishing the information. This coverage eventually led to Lott’s 2007 resignation as Majority Speaker.

Freedoms Offered To Blogs & Power in Numbers

Lott’s case is a classic example of how blogs may accomplish what the traditional press may not. While Lott’s story was old news a day after it happened to the press, the bloggers thought differently. Conveniently, bloggers don’t follow the same restrictions that the press falls under. Blog posts do not operate under a time interval where news becomes old news. Participating in this form of discussion is virtually free and much quicker than in a professional reporting setting. Because of the large discussion that took place via the web following Lott’s commentary, the public became engaged, forcing the press to take action. The power of numbers, seen in this case, plays a major role in almost forcing the press to become engaged in a topic the public deems newsworthy.

Blogs As Tools Of Collaboration

Blogs offer collaboration. This is an essential component to creating networks and news that can be reviewed and discussed. Although many may argue the validity of web based content, it is important to recognize that while anyone may post information, in doing so it is up for public scrutiny. To engage in this sort of debate, typical blogs often offer a “comment” option, allowing viewers to publicly post opinions of that particular post. Even while content may arguably not provide the exact truth, keeping in mind that blogs are often based on opinion and highly subjective, it does draw to the public eye topics worthy of discussion. While the news used to be purely in the hands of “professionals,” this tool has offered “nonprofessionals” to take an active role in the distribution of information.

Educational Uses For Blogs

Although offering a means of distributing more news and helping demonstrate what the public views as valuable discussion are key contributions blogs offer, other purposes for the use of blogging exist. Another use for blogs has been in the educational department. They offer an interactive portal for learning. Many classes now use or encourage the use of blogs. As Robert Godwin-Jones discussed in his journal article, having students publicly post a journal entry opens up commentary from others to offer praise and constructive criticism. Godwin-Jones also suggests that using this tool may help demonstrate a student’s progression throughout his or her studies by tracking improvement. Aside from these obvious educational benefits, blogs may also be used to provide a link to other educational resources for students to access and serve as a means of communication outside of the classroom.

Corporate Uses For Blogs

With the increasing popularity of this tool for communication, many companies are now looking to blogging as a quick and easy way to communicate with consumers. Many websites for organizations offer a link to a blog that displays information on upcoming products, customer support, and general topics of interest on their products and services. For example, http://googleblog.blogspot.com is Google’s blog providing product and industry information to users. Often times, consumers are first directed to a blog to locate topics relevant to question that may concern them. Blogging also helps companies from a public relations aspect and especially with SEO (Search Engine Optimization), a topic far too large to begin discussing here.  The current use by many companies of blogging demonstrates the growing corporate understanding of the power of using this communication tool to engage with consumers.

Political Uses For Blogs

Political use of blogs seemed to emerge greatly due to the effects of 9/11. From this point, they continued to gain exposure and use. Blogs also gained exposure during the 2004 election. Although the primary user of this service, Howard Dean, saw just as great a fall as he did a rise from blogging and use of internet resources, it is important to see the significance of his online presence in gaining attention.  Some may say, "all PR is good PR," yet another topic of debate for a later day.

Many other examples of its use and cases demonstrating its capabilities exist and would take numerous hours to define. Consider this: How often do you type in a search query that doesn’t return with at least one blog article? It is difficult at this point in our society to search the web without coming across this type of journaling. With endless opportunities and the constant growth in use, Blogs have and will continue to gain popularity within the social community.


REFERENCES

Adamic, Lada, and Natalie Glance. The Political Blogosphere and the 2004 U.S. Election: Divided They Blog. 4 Mar. 2005. Web. 21 July 2010. .

"Blogs Make the Headlines." Wired News. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Godwin-Jones, Robert. "EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Blogs and Wikis: Environments for On-line Collaboration." Language Learning & Technology 7.2 (2003): 12-16. May 2003. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Official Google Blog. Web. 21 July 2010. .

Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody the Power of Organizing without Organizations. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.

"Trent Lott Announces His Resignation - Politics - Msnbc.com." Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- Msnbc.com. Web. 21 July 2010. .