By Joel Davis, Chief Executive of agency2
There have been discussions of late about the state of blogging and whether the platform is dying out as a result of new and “improved” communication methods such as microblogging platform Twitter.
While blogs may be under threat by newer social media platforms, they are not even close to retiring as an effective communication medium. Having said that, blogs do have to adapt and evolve to survive in the current media environment where users are becoming inundated with online messaging. Internet users are being more selective about the way they consume, process and convey information.
Twitter has been successful by appealing to users who want a time-effective resource, both for sending and receiving information.
Microblogging accounts generally are far easier to access via mobile and via third party applications. They’re also easier to refresh with content when compared with blogs due to the 140 character limit.
By quenching this thirst for instant communication, Twitter is becoming the platform of choice for instant communication online. Even high profile bloggers have been distracted from continually updating their blogs in favour of microblogging on Twitter and Friend Feed, purely because it’s easier to update and maintain.
However despite the presence of successful microblogging, there is still a valuable place for the blog. The reasons are simple; A blog is a hub of ideas.
A blog is a place where an individual or organisation can express themselves in depth and, unlike Twitter, is a platform which can be the basis for establishing a more credible thought leadership position.
Additionally, a blog can greatly increase a brand’s exposure within search results and all marketers know that investment in search is growing rapidly and is not to be underestimated as a profile building tool.
As a communication device a blog is excellent at portraying an individual’s or organisation’s personality to its audience. Therefore a blog remains a key component for any organisation’s social media and communications strategy.
Our planners at agency:2 believe Blogs are becoming an even more dynamic platform and some bloggers are incorporating aspects of microblogging to create a concept which some have labelled ‘Life Streaming’.
‘Life Streaming’ is essentially blogging but instead of posting long essay-type articles, the focus is on shorter, more visually appealing articles which are more easily consumed and digested by the reader.
Whether the buzzword of ‘Life Streaming’ will become an industry term remains to be seen but many of the principles behind the concept make perfect sense.
In recent months we have seen two of the most popular social networks (Facebook and Twitter) introduce major changes to their platforms because they are trying to evolve and grow with their audience.
With Facebook especially we have seen it's important to listen to your audience and the same principle applies to blogs.
Bloggers have to evolve with the needs of the internet audience and in doing so they will remain a pivotal part of the social media landscape.
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