Introduction
This essay conducts an analysis of blogs as public relations tools and its history. Following an overview of blogs, attention is given to how blogs can be used more effectively by public relations professionals, and how blogs are favored by communication firms and consultants as essential public relations tools.
Its history and analysis of blog
The Internet is becoming widely available and increasingly important in the modern world. Blog is a kind of most popular communication tools in internet today. “Blogging would reach an apex of about 100 million bloggers worldwide around June 2007 and then level off (Israel, 2007).” Blogs are link online diaries with links to Websites of presumed interest such as traditional media outlets or other blogs. They came into being in the mid 1990s when designers put up journals at their home pages and link to each other (Keren, 2006). Blogs came to public attention during the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington when they provided first-hand images and personal perspectives on the traumatic events, informing disoriented audiences about the shaky world around them (Keren, 2006).
Meloni (2006) analyze that a blog is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. The term blog is short for weblog, which is nothing more complicated than a world wide web-based journal. Holtz and Demopoulos (2006) think that a blog is very simple Web site that has some features “traditional” Web sites will have once they mature.
Benefits of blog
Blogging is entering a phase of normalization. More people are talking less about them and using them more. This year, the author's prediction is that counting the number of blogs will start to become as mundane as counting the number of e-mails, instant messages or phone conversations. This is as it should be as a leading-edge technology continues to swim into the mainstream of personal and business communication (Israel, 2007).
For personal
Blogs provide an opportunity for two-way online communication. They are easy to set up, and they can be set up as a public site or as a private site for only select readers to view (Thielst, 2007). Blogs are not always written by teenage girls with crushes on the latest boy band, you will find blogs written by parents, teachers, geeks, actors, musicians, political pundits, religious leaders, eight-year-olds, and eighty-year-olds. In other words, “ordinary people write blogs and ordinary people read blogs. No special skills are required to begin your foray into blogging (Meloni, 2006, p.7)”. People need not have a purpose or a plan. The most important thing to remember about blogging is that “it is ultimately your own space, and you may do with it whatever you want (Meloni, 2006, p.7)”. Although the writing of online diaries is mostly an individual activity, the writers often form communities (Keren, 2006), in that they are aware of each other, post comments in or link to each other’s sites and exchange information.
For business:
Many companies use a print or email newsletter to keep customers informed. A corporate blog can serve the same purpose. Use blog software to create an easily updated Web site that customers, partners, employees, and prospects can read without an email subscription (Lloyd, 2007). A corporate blog is more visible, timely, and less expensive to produce. “It can also be more interesting to read if you remember that you're talking to the world-not a captive audience-and write accordingly (Lloyd, 2007)”. Through blogging, the company can build goodwill, attract new business, improve customer relation, enhance the brand, recruit the best employees, weather a crisis, and build support for initiatives (Holtz & Demopoulos, 2006).
Blogging is a nearly cost-free opportunity to establish or defend a brand and to introduce new products or buzz, and to do so over and over again. Hewitt (2005) thinks that blog advertisement is the most effective and inexpensive advertisement in the world to reach high-income and high-intelligence audiences with instant follow-up. Holtz and Demopoulos (2006) think companies with blogs-a channel a growing number of customers understand and appreciate- will find themselves attracting customers who are fleeing from competitors that make no effort to re-engage with them.
Blogging seemed like a good way drive to employees' interest and involvement (Hathi, 2007). Bob Kreider, president and CEO of The Devereux Foundation, keeps and maintains "The President's Blog," in which he keeps the organization's 6,000 employees updated on the current happenings and future goals of the nation's largest nonprofit provider of behavioral health care services. Kreider touches on everything from the organization's mission statement to informational briefs on Devereux-relevant legislation in his blog, which is designed to be useful for both clients and employees. Smart Business spoke with Kreider about why it's a good idea to smile once in awhile (McClellan, 2007).
Companies strive to stay one step ahead of their competitors by finding ways to respond more quickly to market changes, opportunities, and competitive threats. They use a variety of knowledge management techniques and technologies to become more nimble and flexible to accomplish this critical corporate objective. Blog technology can help when it is used to support the development of personal connections and networks over corporate hierarchy and control (Leandri, 2007).Bruns and Jacobs (2006) suggest that blogging break down communications barriers, providing employees with a forum to talk among them and to disagree with the company or company policies-activities that management can find threatening.
Conclusion
In short, blog is a kind of most popular communication tools in internet today. Blogs are easy to set up, and they can be set up as a public site or as a private site for only select readers to view. For a company, blogging seemed like a good way drive to employees' interest and involvement and contact with customers.
Reference list
Bruns, A. & Jacobs, J. (2006). Uses of blogs. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Hathi, S. (2007). Using Blogs to Involve at World Bank. Strategic Communication Management. 11 (2), 8.
Hewitt, H. (2005). Blog. USA: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Holtz, S. & Demopoulos, T. (2006). Blogging for business. USA: Kaplan Publishing.
Israel, S. (2007). Why Gartner's blog estimates are shortsighted. Communication World. 24 (3), 48.
Keren, M. (2006). Blogosphere. United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Leandri, S. J. (2007). 5 Ways to Improve Your Corporate Blogs. Information Outlook. 11 (1), 15-18.
Lloyd, G. (2007). Blogs and Wikis: Building Customer Connections. AIIM E - Doc Magazine. 21 (4), 42-44.
McClellan, M. (2007).Thoughts on running a business: Bob Kreider. Smart Business Philadelphia. 3 (11), 10.
Meloni, J. C. (2006). Blogging in a snap. USA: Sams Publishing.
Thielst, C. B. (2007). Weblogs: A Communication Tool. Journal of Healthcare Management. 52 (5), 287-289.
