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Blog - Blogs - Dynamic WebLogs
Weblogs, which enable multiple users to post text easily to a Web site, with the most recent post appearing on top, have been around for years but have gained rampant popularity only recently. This immense interest in Web-logs -- "blogs" for short -- now is carrying over to the corporate world.
A few companies already are deploying blogs for internal and external communications. Though the trend has been tentative so far -- only a handful of companies are putting out public blogs authored by their employees -- it seems likely that the number of corporate blogs will skyrocket in the near future. Are enterprises ready for this new technology?
Web logs Communication
Blogs are a marked improvement over static Web pages. Blogs are what Web pages were supposed to be in the first place; blogs have changed the default understanding of what we do on the Web -- from the old real estate concept of building a static site to a new, dynamic approach.
One of the first companies to embrace blogs was MVI Solutions. Blogs are part of the company's overall enterprise plan. MVI Solutions is very customer-focused, and we have our collective corporate ear to the ground in many different ways, Blogs seem like another channel for what we already do and for what our customers already value about us.
Technology research has begun to dabble in Web logs. Web logs is an experiment. However, we see a lot of future in blogs.
Advertising through Blogs
In fact, blogs might be a better way for companies to tell customers about their products. The advertising push by using Weblogs was viewed negatively initially. However after it was given a slight chance the advertising value was surprising good. What's wrong with a company getting the word out thru weblogs or blogs it might be a good medium if people use it?
Honesty Blogs
However, companies need to be honest. A blog that isn't truthful won't work -- it will be perceived as a shill toeing the company line and spinning the company story.
The voice used on a company Weblogs say a lot about how a business views of its customers. A blog that is truthful tells it like it is and is honest and builds a trusted influence and source. It also says a lot about the company's stance towards its customers. Open with information, we're here to help, we want to listen. However there are limits. Would Enron's PR disaster have been averted by an employee blog? I think not.
Formal or Informal?
In many cases, a company's decision to deploy Web-logs may hinge more on policy than on technical issues related to software deployment. More conservative companies may see Web-logs as too informal and too uncontrolled to justify the risk.
While it is true that personal blogs are usually the height of informality, the immediacy of communication and two-way nature of the discussion on sites that allow comments from readers have made a blog immensely popular with many readers and authors.
It is important that companies allow individual voices to come through, instead of that corporate voice. Blogging can just involve companies and their markets in huge ways.
Some companies are seeking ways to harness the positives of blogging while tempering some of the rough edges. That may mean vetting material before it is posted. That many companies review material before publishing it on its public Web-log. It's right out there for everybody to see, so companies need a bit of a review process.
Employee and Public Web-Logs
Many companies maintain several Web-logs that are visible only thru password protected doorways and are not reviewed. It's kind of a gated community, really under the direct control of the bloggers. Then again, it's a very tightly controlled community that only certain company members have access to.
Although it is hard to measure internal Web-log use, it is likely that these tools are being used extensively within enterprises. Behind corporate firewalls, employees can be free with their opinions while keeping the rest of the company up-to-date on important projects or day-to-day operations.
We have not seen many internal blogs -- since they are, after all, internal -- but they are bound to be useful. Those are far more likely to be read than some corporate newsletter. Take the water cooler and put it in the browser.
Public Blog
Overall, are corporate blog successful? If traffic on publicly readable blogs is any measure of success, then the answer is yes. There are a high number of hits on that public blog. To get the full benefit of a blog, however, companies need to do more than simply publish approved postings; they must allow comments so they can monitor what readers are saying about them.
Taking the comments concept even further we need to emphasize the importance of "track-back" features. Track-backs allow bloggers to see when their posts have been mentioned elsewhere and participate in discussions that move beyond their site. Track-backs began with Web-log software called Moveable Type but are being implemented in a number of other blog programs now.
What Next
The big question in the not-so-distant future may be whether or not companies are willing to allow public discussion to flourish on Weblogs. A failure of nerve on the part of firms determined to stick with more timid, one-way communication may allow other, braver companies to achieve more mind-share by engaging the public. If they are going to talk about your company or products and services you might as well let it be where you can read it.
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