Blogs have been described as online diaries for anxiety-ridden teenagers. They are that, of course, but more recently they have gained respect as mainstream media. Essentially they are two-way conversations that occur on many fronts.
According to Internet trade sources, currently 27.9 million U.S. Internet users, representing 14% of the Internet population, have a blog they update at least once per month. Over 96 million Internet users are reading these blogs.
A senior analyst with the trade newsletter eMarketer stresses, ?Blogging activity presented new opportunities for marketers to monitor and influence conversations relevant to their businesses, opportunities no marketer should ignore.?
The analyst added. ?These conversations will continue to happen with or without paticipation from marketers, but those who join in?whether through their own sites or through a brand presence on independent ones?will have a place at the table.?
Debbie Weil, author of The Corporate Blogging Book, points out, ?Packaged, filtered, controlled conversations are out. Open, two-way, authentic, communications with our customers and employees are in.?
Weil adds, ?We?re entering a new age of corporate communications, and blogs are a key enabler of a better way of talking with customers, employees, the media, and other key constituencies.?