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.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, wrote by Walter Benjamin
How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?
In the article - The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin thinks that modern digital media as he discusses the rise of new technologies affecting the evolution of art throughout history.
In principle a work of art has always been reproducible. Man-made artifacts could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by third parties in the pursuit of gain. Mechanical reproduction of a work of art, however, represents something new. Historically, it advanced intermittently and in leaps at long intervals, but with accelerated intensity. The Greeks knew only two procedures of technically reproducing works of art: founding and stamping. Bronzes, terra cottas, and coins were the only art works which they could produce in quantity. All others were unique and could not be mechanically reproduced.
There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?
Anyone can create digital things with computer today. How to define art? Art is "The quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance". The definition states that the digital media that everyone can create can be considered art. However, Walter Benjamin has different opinion: The concept of aura which was proposed above with reference to historical objects may usefully be illustrated with reference to the aura of natural ones. We define the aura of the latter as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. When someone paints a picture or creates a sculpture, the object and everything that it represents is in a whole, "art". When that picture is copied and reproduced from a machine or that sculpture is replicated it loses some of its artistic appeal. The original objects themselves are "art", because someone created them with their bare hands from their own feelings and emotions. When it is reproduced it loses that, it loses its aura. The painting or sculpture now embodies the beauty of piece, but loses the human aspect.
Is a photoshopped image "authentic"?
The situations into which the product of mechanical reproduction can be brought may not touch the actual work of art, yet the quality of its presence is always depreciated. This holds not only for the art work but also, for instance, for a landscape which passes in review before the spectator in a movie. In the case of the art object, a most sensitive nucleus – namely, its authenticity – is interfered with whereas no natural object is vulnerable on that score. The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced.
Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?
In Benjamin’s opinion, digital “things” are lacking in an “aura” as “... the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence.” Digital things and reproduced things lack aura as the copies are not made within the context of the original therefore draining the entity of its “aura”.
In the article - The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin thinks that modern digital media as he discusses the rise of new technologies affecting the evolution of art throughout history.
In principle a work of art has always been reproducible. Man-made artifacts could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by third parties in the pursuit of gain. Mechanical reproduction of a work of art, however, represents something new. Historically, it advanced intermittently and in leaps at long intervals, but with accelerated intensity. The Greeks knew only two procedures of technically reproducing works of art: founding and stamping. Bronzes, terra cottas, and coins were the only art works which they could produce in quantity. All others were unique and could not be mechanically reproduced.
There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?
Anyone can create digital things with computer today. How to define art? Art is "The quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance". The definition states that the digital media that everyone can create can be considered art. However, Walter Benjamin has different opinion: The concept of aura which was proposed above with reference to historical objects may usefully be illustrated with reference to the aura of natural ones. We define the aura of the latter as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. When someone paints a picture or creates a sculpture, the object and everything that it represents is in a whole, "art". When that picture is copied and reproduced from a machine or that sculpture is replicated it loses some of its artistic appeal. The original objects themselves are "art", because someone created them with their bare hands from their own feelings and emotions. When it is reproduced it loses that, it loses its aura. The painting or sculpture now embodies the beauty of piece, but loses the human aspect.
Is a photoshopped image "authentic"?
The situations into which the product of mechanical reproduction can be brought may not touch the actual work of art, yet the quality of its presence is always depreciated. This holds not only for the art work but also, for instance, for a landscape which passes in review before the spectator in a movie. In the case of the art object, a most sensitive nucleus – namely, its authenticity – is interfered with whereas no natural object is vulnerable on that score. The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced.
Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?
In Benjamin’s opinion, digital “things” are lacking in an “aura” as “... the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence.” Digital things and reproduced things lack aura as the copies are not made within the context of the original therefore draining the entity of its “aura”.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
the Scavenger Hunt questions
1. Who was the creator of the infamous "love bug" computer virus?
Onel de Guzman
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/11/BU193239.DTL&type=printable)
2. Who invented the paper clip?
Johan Vaaler
(http://ask.yahoo.com/20031120.html)
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
Ebola virus got its name from a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), in Africa, where it was first recognized.
(http://ebola.emedtv.com/ebola-virus/what-is-the-ebola-virus.html)
4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
India
(http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/archives/secondary/casestud/india/2/earthquake.html)
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
The terms kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte and terabyte refer to a collection of bytes stored in a computer. There are 1024 bytes in kilobyte, 1024 kilobytes in a megabyte, 1024 megabytes in a gigabyte and 1024 gigabytes in a terabyte. Although the above definitions are the accurate definitions, the terms kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte and terabyte also have a popular definition. A kilobyte is popularly referred to as 1000 bytes, a megabyte is popularly referred to as a million bytes, a gigabyte as billion bytes and a terabyte as a trillion.
(http://www.sonoma.edu/users/c/carusor/web219/hardware_terms.htm)
6. Who is the creator of email?
Ray Tomlinson
(http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/email.html)
7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
The "Storm" worm computer virus/botnet/trojan horse/malware extravaganza got its name from its first method of transmission -- an e-mail attachment with the subject line: "230 dead as storm batters Europe."
The Storm worm, termed Nuwar by Microsoft but popularly referred to as Storm, was first identified in January 2007. Within one week of it's discovery, the worm had successfully infected over one million personal computers.
(http://www.hothardware.com/News/What_Is_The_Storm_Worm_For/)
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly, what is the most efficient way?
Use email.
9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of?
Associate Professor Stephen Stockwell is the head of the School of Arts on Griffith University's Gold Coast campus where he lectures in journalism, public relations and new technologies. Previously he worked as a journalist at 4ZZZ, JJJ and Four Corners, as a Press Secretary for various state and federal MPs and as a freelance video producer and film publicist. His writing credits include songs for Brisbane punk band Black Assassins, articles and short stories for the Cane Toad Times and a play on the 1982 Commonwealth Games for the Popular Theatre Troupe banned by the Queensland Education Department in the Bjelke-Petersen years. His academic research interests include political campaigns, investigative journalism, new communication technologies and "trash" culture such as Big Things and the Power Puff Girls. His book on political campaign strategy is presently under negotiation with publishers."
(http://blog.myspace.com/danik0)
10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
Web 1.0 was mainly a publishing medium, Web 2.0 offers more flexibility and interactivity. Instead of static pages, Web 2.0 offers interactive sites that are more like simple desktop applications - or, indeed, are online versions of simple desktop applications.
(http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/11/20/1132421549312.html?page=3)
I’m not sure I was correct, but I‘ve tried my best to do it.
**I guess they use the key words.
**In the top of my search result, there are key words which I tried to find and the number of the search result.
**I usually use “Google”. I was taught use it to do search when I need to do search online.
Onel de Guzman
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/11/BU193239.DTL&type=printable)
2. Who invented the paper clip?
Johan Vaaler
(http://ask.yahoo.com/20031120.html)
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
Ebola virus got its name from a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), in Africa, where it was first recognized.
(http://ebola.emedtv.com/ebola-virus/what-is-the-ebola-virus.html)
4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
India
(http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/archives/secondary/casestud/india/2/earthquake.html)
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
The terms kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte and terabyte refer to a collection of bytes stored in a computer. There are 1024 bytes in kilobyte, 1024 kilobytes in a megabyte, 1024 megabytes in a gigabyte and 1024 gigabytes in a terabyte. Although the above definitions are the accurate definitions, the terms kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte and terabyte also have a popular definition. A kilobyte is popularly referred to as 1000 bytes, a megabyte is popularly referred to as a million bytes, a gigabyte as billion bytes and a terabyte as a trillion.
(http://www.sonoma.edu/users/c/carusor/web219/hardware_terms.htm)
6. Who is the creator of email?
Ray Tomlinson
(http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/email.html)
7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
The "Storm" worm computer virus/botnet/trojan horse/malware extravaganza got its name from its first method of transmission -- an e-mail attachment with the subject line: "230 dead as storm batters Europe."
The Storm worm, termed Nuwar by Microsoft but popularly referred to as Storm, was first identified in January 2007. Within one week of it's discovery, the worm had successfully infected over one million personal computers.
(http://www.hothardware.com/News/What_Is_The_Storm_Worm_For/)
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly, what is the most efficient way?
Use email.
9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of?
Associate Professor Stephen Stockwell is the head of the School of Arts on Griffith University's Gold Coast campus where he lectures in journalism, public relations and new technologies. Previously he worked as a journalist at 4ZZZ, JJJ and Four Corners, as a Press Secretary for various state and federal MPs and as a freelance video producer and film publicist. His writing credits include songs for Brisbane punk band Black Assassins, articles and short stories for the Cane Toad Times and a play on the 1982 Commonwealth Games for the Popular Theatre Troupe banned by the Queensland Education Department in the Bjelke-Petersen years. His academic research interests include political campaigns, investigative journalism, new communication technologies and "trash" culture such as Big Things and the Power Puff Girls. His book on political campaign strategy is presently under negotiation with publishers."
(http://blog.myspace.com/danik0)
10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
Web 1.0 was mainly a publishing medium, Web 2.0 offers more flexibility and interactivity. Instead of static pages, Web 2.0 offers interactive sites that are more like simple desktop applications - or, indeed, are online versions of simple desktop applications.
(http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/11/20/1132421549312.html?page=3)
I’m not sure I was correct, but I‘ve tried my best to do it.
**I guess they use the key words.
**In the top of my search result, there are key words which I tried to find and the number of the search result.
**I usually use “Google”. I was taught use it to do search when I need to do search online.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
I & New Communications Technology
Nowadays, New Communications Technology has become a part of people’s life. Such as e-mail, mobile, etc. I really think they are important for me to keep touch with others. New Technology also has lots of functions in people’s living. It’s the main reason for me to choose this course.
I’ve started to use QQ which is a kind of chatting tools in internet about three years. That time, I left my family to study in Australian. How to contact with families and friends became a big “problem” I have to face. Because I think writing letter is too long time to get write back; email also need to spend lots of time on writing amount of words to explain the situation and feeling clearly; and the phone fee is quiet expensive for international students. My friends taught me to use QQ to contact with others. It’s a new experience to chat with people on line. Late, I learned to use it to talk with people like using the phone. The fee is cheap, and we also can see the each other if we want to. I also can use it play games with others online and make a space to put some pictures with friends to share.
I do have some friends who never know them before from QQ chatting. Some of them I already met when I got chance to their cities or they come to Beijing when I got school holiday at home. Sometimes, I met some people who I don’t want to talk with any more, I can leave them alone. QQ bring to me a rich life. But it only can be use by people who understand Chinese. So I also learn to use MSN to contact with foreign friends.
I’ll study more knowledge about use New Technology to do more interesting things. Welcome to teach me more or learn more with me together.
I’ve started to use QQ which is a kind of chatting tools in internet about three years. That time, I left my family to study in Australian. How to contact with families and friends became a big “problem” I have to face. Because I think writing letter is too long time to get write back; email also need to spend lots of time on writing amount of words to explain the situation and feeling clearly; and the phone fee is quiet expensive for international students. My friends taught me to use QQ to contact with others. It’s a new experience to chat with people on line. Late, I learned to use it to talk with people like using the phone. The fee is cheap, and we also can see the each other if we want to. I also can use it play games with others online and make a space to put some pictures with friends to share.
I do have some friends who never know them before from QQ chatting. Some of them I already met when I got chance to their cities or they come to Beijing when I got school holiday at home. Sometimes, I met some people who I don’t want to talk with any more, I can leave them alone. QQ bring to me a rich life. But it only can be use by people who understand Chinese. So I also learn to use MSN to contact with foreign friends.
I’ll study more knowledge about use New Technology to do more interesting things. Welcome to teach me more or learn more with me together.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The first day
Hi, I’m Celia, a student doing human resource management in Griffith University. I’d like to know more knowledge about computer skill and new technology, because they are getting more and more important for people. Using them, we can know much news, make friends, and chat with people, shopping in the home… Its quiet interesting, isn’t it?
It’s the first day I had a blog! :) It does a little bit confuse about how to make it good enough. However, I’ll try my best to do it well. Welcome to Celia’s place!
It’s the first day I had a blog! :) It does a little bit confuse about how to make it good enough. However, I’ll try my best to do it well. Welcome to Celia’s place!
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