Monday, October 6, 2008

Blogs

Until reading blogs suggested in this class, I assumed blogs were a channel for those who wanted to broadcast their opinions about nothing. However, after reading a few suggested blogs I have discovered that like books, the quality of content depends largely on the author and all you have to do is find a blog author you like and voila.

Similar Youtube, blogs have the ability to create free publicity for organizations. However, it may not always be good publicity. If a blog is sponsored by an organization, then it can become a source of positive publicity by drawing in more viewers. For example, KY3 has been advertising a political blog by David Catanese through television advertisments. Many individuals in my age group no longer recieve their news through traditional media outlets, so by branching out into blogs KY3 may widen their audience. Another example is Cosmopolitan magazine's fictional blog which is posted online, as well as published in every issue. As a subscriber, I found myself so addicted to the monthly snippets I recieved every month that I was soon going online every week and catching up. I thought I was the only one, until one day I was shocked when a ghost posting (a title appeared but no blog) garnered about 50 angry postings from fellow followers. In that instance, Cosmopolitan recieved negative publicity due to negligence towards its blog. Since that time, apologies are posted if no new blogs are added during the week. If, however the blog is not sponsored by the organization negative publicity may result. In a related instance, the CEO of Whole Foods was found to be posting negative comments about Wild Oats (a company they have since acquired) under an alias. The postings resulted in an investigation by SEC after a lawsuit was filed by the Federal Trade Commission. This, of course created negative publicity for Whole Foods, an organization which prides itself on its organization's values.

Public relations practioners can utlize blogs to promote events, campaigns, and programs in a multide of ways. First, practioners can scan current blogs related to the event, campaign, or program they are interested in promoting and identify key blogs. Practioners should then find a way to get their event, campaign, or program listed on those key blogs. For example, a practioner could contact the author of the blog and send them information, or a link to their blog. Second, practioners can also set up their own blog about their specific event, campaign, or program and advertise it through other channels (organizational website, sponsor's website, sponsor's blog, televison, etc.).

2 comments:

AbLoG4U said...

You used really good examples of blogs gone wrong. You would think that a forerunner like COSMO would be more aware of posting on a timely mannar. This example just shows the importance of having a dedicated professional on staff who can tend to the blog. The kind of traffic a blog like that likely gets is probably unreal--what a flub on thier part!

Susan333 said...

Maggie,

Love your blog!

Susan