The term blog is a contraction of the term “web log”. A weblog is a journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption (feedforall, 2010).
The content of a blog varies depending upon the blogger (the author of the blog) and the purpose of the blog. Most commonly it is a series of diary entries about the bloggers personal experiences and hobbies (wordnetweb, 2010), as well as a place of reflection and a place to voice opinions. The freedom to view blogs and the ability to post comments makes blogs an excellent place for discussion and debate. This can often be insightful and rewarding given the fact that anyone may comment on what you have to say.
Blogging is changing areas of society such as journalism and politics. It is set to rival e-mail as a personal communication tool. “The number of blogs is increasing exponentially. In March 2005, Technorati, a blog search site, was tracking close to eight million blogs, up from four million just five months before” (jeffryhill, 2005). In 2005 Google purchased the blogging site Blogger. In the same year Microsoft introduced the blogging service MSN spaces (jeffryhill, 2005). This shows that big businesses are taking blogging very seriously and it is an area they are looking to expand and develop.
The Blogosphere (The use blogs as a social networking tool) is also expanding. Any blog with comments can easily become a community for readers to converse and share opinions.
The Use of Blogs in Business
There is a clear use for Blogs in business, especially when it comes to marketing. The ability to reach millions and connect a community through discussion boards is an opportunity many companies would be foolish to miss. “proof that blogs had finally entered the business mainstream was given in May 2005, when the front cover of Business Week boldly proclaimed that 'Blogs will change your business'” (jeffryhill, 2005).
Blogs are now being used internally in companies as a method of project management. They are also being utilised for external marketing, as a communication tool and as a form of PR. The growth of the blog has even stimulated new jobs to be created where the primary role of the employee is to manage and maintain blogs (jeffryhill, 2005).
The barrier for entry on a blog is almost non-existent. They have minimal (if any) start up cost and they require very little skill to create, maintain and use. This makes blogs a very effective and practical way to establish and maintain communication with customers. Despite this however estimates suggest that only .03% of the 34.5 million existing blogs are driving sales or prospective customers to their bloggers (jeffryhill, 2005). However as companies become more proficient at blogging and learn to maximise its effectiveness, this number is sure to rise, after all it is still very new and there is always a learning curve for businesses when it comes to new communication mediums.
The use of blogs in business tend to fall into the following areas:
Humanising your business – Due to their informal nature.
Improving customer service – It can work as an FAQ and help service as customers can contact the business and find out helpful information.
Provide info to the target consumer – Blogs can be easily archived by the creator and navigated by the reader. This combined with the ability to join a blog, being informed of updates, makes it a useful information sharing tool.
Increasing traffic on the main sales website through use of links, blogs also function as a method of search engine optimization.
Promote products or services – You can even sell products via a blog.
Generating income – Through use of external advertising on the blog (Entrepreneur, 2006).
Blogs can be used as a form of relationship marketing, a process whereby a relationship is developed with identifiable customers. In contemporary culture, customers are bombarded with alternative purchase options, their choice has increased dramatically and continues to do so. Therefore it is crucial to establish customer loyalty and relationship marketing through use of blogs provides an excellent tool to establish this.
Traditional PR is dying. People no longer trust the slick and calculated corporate materials and today’s more educated consumer can see straight through PR campaigns. Due to the informal and personalised nature of blogs, people are much more inclined to trust what they read and be influenced by it, especially when comments allow direct communication between consumer and marketer. Blogs can have a downside however, the information contained on the blog is almost impossible to control once it is released which can result in negative outcomes. For example the bike lock manufacturer Kryptonite suffered estimated losses of over $10 million when a video was uploaded to their blog demonstrating how easy it was to pick the lock of one of their best selling products (jeffryhill, 2005).
Blogging can be used as an independent business model. A subscription model could be utilised however it is unlikely that paying for access to a blog will become popular. Selling advertising space and also being acquired by a larger company after gaining followers are also methods of gaining income through use of a blog.
The market for Blogs as a business is very competitive, due to the low barriers of entry. Therefore Blogs are best used as a method of supporting business activities rather than as a primary business model.
Due to the inherent lack of control in Blogs, utilising them whole heartedly can really be playing with fire (see Kryptonite example above). However, if a company is willing to take the risk of utilising this medium then the potential rewards of an almost endless viewer base await.
Use of Blogs as a Learning Aid
Blogs can be used as a method for students to demonstrate their work to their lecturers via the internet. They can make individual postings on various subjects, using various media to convey their points. The posts are viewable by lecturers and other students alike, providing the opportunity for discussion between the interested parties.
Strengths
Blogs provide an excellent learning aid as it allows communication between student, teacher and other students, affording the opportunity of analysis and evaluation of ones work.
It also allows students to view the work of their peers, getting a view of the same subjects from a different perspective, thus increasing the spectrum of the student’s knowledge.
The technology available also encourages the use of linking to academic articles and other sources. It is literally as easy as the click of a button. This encourages the behaviour of viewing and referencing articles, increasing its use in traditional assignments.
Blogging as an assignment allows what would otherwise be a daunting task to become a much more approachable, bitesize chunks activity.
Media such as pictures, music and videos make what would otherwise be flat and boring text, much more interesting for the writer and reader.
The creativity and personality that blogs allow to be conveyed will translate into regular assignments. It demonstrates to students that their written work does not have to be boring and lack personality to be successful.
Lecturers can view and mark work at their leisure, rather than facing the horrific prospect of marking hundreds of assignments all at once.
Lecturers can give instant feedback, affording students the opportunity to change and improve their work before the deadline. Mistakes can be corrected and it reduces the risk of a major mistake costing a student a lot of marks.
Students will be encouraged to increase their technical know how and embrace contemporary learning techniques.
Weaknesses
Students can get carried away with the options available to them (e.g. the embedding of Youtube videos) and focus more on flash rather than concentrating on theory.
Some students won’t take it seriously as they don’t view it as a “proper” assignment
Students without access to a computer are put at a disadvantage
Students without technical know how will struggle
Conclusion
Whilst there are some disadvantages to the use of blogs as a learning and teaching aid, the positives far outweigh the negatives. They provide a more interactive and interesting experience than traditional assignment and whilst some will prefer traditional methods, the majority are in favour of blogs as a teaching and learning medium.
After highlighting the positives, I am extremly releived to say...... THANK GOD BLOGGING IS OVER AND DONE WITH!!!
Cheesy yes, but I feel it makes my point.
No comments:
Post a Comment