Through a roundabout route, I found a post from Renee Blodgett which commented on an item I wrote some weeks back — and her post included one of the more sane and insightful things I’ve read on the subject of blogging for a while.
It’s amazing to me that so many people are trying to “figure blogs out,” instead of realizing that its just another communications vehicle on the web. The big deal is that blogs empower more authors to write and its becoming increasingly easy to do.
This articulated something I’ve been thinking for a while — that as many people are being turned off blogging as are being excited by the possibilities as a result of the “find your voice”-style of introspection about the whole process.
Our position is very, very simple. Blogs are tools. They have certain uses in certain situations, where they could possibly give your business a competitive edge. They can help you reduce information overload and make your working day easier. They can also be tremendous fun, particularly if you enjoy writing.
But they’re not a cure for cancer, and they won’t miraculously rescue a failing project. Nor will they provide some mystical insight into the human condition, unless you consider that exposing yourself to a wide variety of opinions from interesting people to be something that can provide that insight. They’re simply an easy way of getting words onto a web page.
I get frustrated with some of the more extreme navel-gazing that goes on — and it does the technology no service, because I’m convinced that it frightens away more people than it attracts. Face facts, business in general is extremely conservative (with a small ‘c’) and is generally reluctant to try new things for fear of failure and/or ridicule.
So if you position a blog as a tool that can help productivity, there’s a chance that your average pointy-haired boss will consider it as something to try — but ask them to “find their blogging voice” and they will run away. For many people who aren’t professional writers, publishing their words somewhere public — whether that’s inside an organisation or out on the web — is akin to public speaking, and that’s one of the most commonly-held phobias in the business world.
