Week 1: Blogs: Day 2
Photo by ShashiBellamkonda on Flickr
Why would someone create a blog and write posts? Let’s look at two different areas: Outside to the world and inside within an organization.
Outside to the world
I have some information I feel is worth sharing. You are reading this blog and learning. Look at that. Purpose #1 complete.
There are other purposes. Google has a blog that tells everyone what they are up to next. The White House has a blog so you can keep up to date on governmental issues. There are blogs about iPhones, one day mega deals, digital photography, how to give good presentations, genealogy, cooking, how to ‘hack’ life, the Oregon coast, a picture a day, and all things memorable if you grew up in the 80s. There are even blogs on how to write better blogs. Pick any subject and there is someone who is gathering information about it and writing about it.
Pointer: Watch the comments under the post. A lot of time when you are trying to find information, the answer might not be in the body of the post, but will be given by a reader in the comments.
Inside to your organization
Within an organization, blogs have many purposes. Here are a few examples:
- Instead of having my direct reports email me a weekly or bi-weekly update, they can put it on a blog. When I want to see what they have accomplished, they I can read their posts. These posts don’t need to be done on an “every Tuesday morning” schedule (or some such), but can be done as work is done – as life happens. This way I can get updated information that isn’t a week or two old. Other peers can read their posts and learn that certain people may have an answer for a problem they are trying to overcome. They ask questions, give feedback and get answers. Information is no longer ‘stovepiped’ and sanitized, but it is free-flowing and discoverable.
- Some companies have newsletters or emails or even a periodic voice mail to all employees with updates. Why not give them information as you get it and as they need it? Again, if they have questions, they can ask immediately and clear up any confusion.
- There is a use of blogs which is often overlooked. It is the ability for self reflection. My most popular blog post (as measured by page views and traffic on Twitter – which we will cover later) was a self reflection. I had an ‘ah-ha’ moment and needed to capture it and work it out in my mind. To do that, I wrote a post. This created a lot of conversation and, from the number of people who quoted it in their blogs, it helped others as well. We should not discount the power of sharing our insights.
TO DO – Finding blogs which interest you (Difficulty Level: EASY – Time: Take at least 10 minutes)
Part 1: Technorati and Google Blogs are services that help you find information which are housed on blogs. Go to one or both of these and search for topics you are interested in. Start with a question. “Are Goldendoodles good with kids?” or “How do I get out of debt?“ You can either type in the question or search by keywords or topics. When you find blogs that interest you, bookmark them in your browser (you will need these next week, so don’t lose them).
Part 2: Use the comments below to answer the following questions:
- There are other reasons to create and use blogs. I only touched on a few here. Are there any others?
- What are your favorite blogs and why? Please share them with us.
- How have blogs helped you inside an organization and outside in your personal life?
