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The Blogosphere and Why You Should Care
By
Steve Bassett, Chairman and CEO
The Communications Workshop, LLC
By now, there isn't anyone on the planet who doesn't know what a blog is. People offering opinions on the Internet about subjects that interest them. Technorati.com keeps blog statistics. In their latest report from April 2007, there were more than 70 million blogs worldwide. Take a look at these staggering statistics from Technorati.com:
- 70 million weblogs;
- About 120,000 new weblogs each day, or;
- 1.4 new blogs every second;
- 3000-7000 new splogs (fake, or spam blogs) created every day;
- Peak of 11,000 splogs per day last December;
- 1.5 million posts per day, or;
- 17 posts per second;
- Growing from 35 to 75 million blogs took 320 days;
- Japanese the #1 blogging language at 37%;
- English second at 33%;
- Chinese third at 8%;
- Italian fourth at 3%;
- Farsi a newcomer in the top 10 at 1%.
There are blogs out there on just about every imaginable subject. Aviation, of course, where we found nearly 150 aviation-related blogs. There also are conservative and liberal political blogs, legal blogs, medical blogs, literary blogs, religious blogs, educational blogs, media blogs, photo blogs, military blogs, even something called "friends" blog.
Blogs are simply Internet web sites where people express opinions and are linked to other like-thinking blogs.
Blogging seems to have its roots in politics where they were created as platforms for discussion of issues of social importance and largely as counter points to the main stream news media; sites which "report" (and I use the word loosely) news without editors or filters or, as it has been suggested, void of the same biases main stream media brings to its reporting, and appropriately so. Many feel that the main stream news media is not only biased in its reporting of events, but is also slow to re-spond and has been caught cheating. But, blogs clearly have their own biases, as well.
Today, bloggers have a significant impact on public opinion, perhaps even more so than main stream media. Bloggers are sophisticated, educated, and have actually become pretty good at reporting current events. And, that's why you should care about the Blogosphere.
If your company is faced with a crisis such as an aviation accident, it is just as important for you to know what bloggers are reporting as it is for you to follow the coverage of your crisis in the morning newspaper or evening television newscast.
Keeping tabs on the Blogosphere is an important part of your media/communications strategy because a "Blogswarm" around your company could be catastrophic. You may not think you are vulnerable, but give the Blogosphere a reason to care about your company and you won't like the bad publicity you may get.
I suggested this to one of my aviation clients who was naturally skeptical so I urged them to go to their computer and type in the name of their company on one of the blog search engines and see if anyone was talking about them. Sure enough, the company, which has aircraft deployed around the globe and had recently suffered an accident on the other side of the world, discovered to their amazement that someone was indeed out there posting incorrect and damaging information about them and the accident on the Internet for all to see.
The typical search engines are not well equipped to track blogs. But, the following web sites are: technorati.com, feedster.com, icerocket.com and blogpulse.com.
Look upon the Blogosphere as just another form of news media. Occasionally, run a search to see if anyone is talking about you or your company. In the event of a crisis situation, check the Blogosphere more frequently. Should you find yourself or your company the target of a blog attack, here are some helpful hints to help you manage your way through the mess:
- Don't treat it as if it doesn't exist;
- Move quickly to respond;
- Make sure someone in your company is designated as the company spokesperson;
- Deal with it by communicating with it ;
- Don't insult the swarm members. they have the upper hand ;
- Disclose facts that can be disclosed ;
- Put management leadership on the record as soon as possible ;
- Admit a mistake if you have made one;
- Say all of the things you have been taught to say to the main stream news media;
- Be honest and forthright.
Above all, make sure your company, as a part of your overall operational strategy and disaster response plan, also has a comprehensive communications plan which includes policies on dealing with bloggers.
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