The Other Side of Blogs

I found the blog “Business strategy transformed by blogs” very interesting. For several weeks we have been talking about blogging in the corporate world and how important it is. I have to admit that before this class I didn’t know much about blogs, but as of late I have come to believe that blogs are great for companies. I still think blogs are going to revolutionize the future of businesses. They make customer service better, communication open and help customers understand products.
However, there is a side of blogging that I hadn’t considered until I read the blog by Todd Labrum. There is a quote that says "companies have to learn to track what blogs are talking about, pinpoint influential bloggers, and figure out how to buttonhole them, privately and publicly." It was as if a light bulb went off in my brain. Yes, blogs can be a great tool. That is already proven, however, now I understand that they can also be a hindrance to companies. It is a way for competitors, and essentially anyone who has an aversion to a company to post thousands of negative comments and lies to hurt the growth of a company. Yes, I still believe that blogs are more than a fad, but I also believe that for some companies blogs can end up hurting their image if they are not careful and protective of their blog. Todd’s blog definitely gave me great advice on protecting professional blogs.

Corporate Blogs

It is very difficult to try and pick only ten good blog sites. In the business world today it seems as if a company cannot survive without a blog. I was surprised to learn that Forbes even has a “fortune 500 business blogs” website. (http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs) After reviewing some of the companies that are on the list I chose a few that impressed me:
· Delta Airlines
· American Express
· Disney Land
· Dell
· Amazon.com
· Comcast
· Starbucks
· Coca-Cola
· FedEx
· HP
The above listed sites vary in the kinds of information they provide, however, I felt that they were all well taken care of, appealing to the eye, updated and informative and interesting. All the above blogs can be found in alphabetical order at the following website. (http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs/index.cgi).

Evolution of Blogs

Have blogs evolved like the internet?
I believe that there is strong evidence that weblogs have evolved, similarly to the evolution of the Internet. Blogging, like the internet they started out in a very simple form. The first so called blogs were simply online journals. It was a place that people could publish events that happened in their daily lives. As the ability to use the internet became more global as well as more well known I believe that blogs went from online journaling to somewhat of a major social network. In the early 2000's blog were used widely for newscasters and journalist. Now, Blogs have become a norm for businesses, schools, government, “for sale” ads and much more.
Now blogs are not just social networking sites, Blogging has become so large that it now has its own sphere. This is being called the “blogosphere”. A blogosphere is said to be made up of all blogs and their interconnections. This implies that blogs are their own community or in other words their own social network.
Now that blogs have become so popular software has been created to fit the needs of blogs, and bloggers." Some of the current software types are, or they can be run using blog software, such as Word Press, Movable Type, Blogger or Live Journal, or on regular web hosting services."(encyclopedia.com)