Breaking News: Blogs can be informational resources or marketing opportunities

When I first read Chapter Four, "Citizen Journalists?" and Chapter Six, "Blogging Brands," I was first struck by how much I didn't know about the blogging world. I like to think that I'm pretty aware of social media sites, regardless of whether I'm a frequent user or not, but I know little about the website opportunities available to bloggers. 

Citizen Journalists

While there can be arguments for or against bloggers as journalists, I think that there is something compelling about reading a blogger's experiences in real-time. The excerpts from the blog about the Virginia Tech shootings really touched me, even years later, because they were so genuine. I'd never thought about war zone blogs, but hearing a perspective from people directly involved, not the government or other outside sources, really adds a new dynamic. So maybe, rather than looking at bloggers as journalists or not journalists, we can look at bloggers as adding a new dynamic to the art of journalism. By blogging real-time, there is no reason for a witness to fact check what they have witnessed and the emotions are still raw. I believe that this can give readers a better insight into the feel of a situation rather than just a relay of events that news companies usually give. Rhettburg makes a great point at the end of his chapter about how news sources and blogs are able to work together in a symbiotic relationship to promote news in the most efficient and effective manner. 

Gatewatching

Gatewatching was a whole new concept for me, though it makes sense as to why it would be a successful blogging technique. Bloggers are able to filter information on a topic and present a narrowly focused set of information that is very up-to-date. I hadn't heard of Slashdot before, but after looking at the site, it truly is tailored to its audience and offers easy-to-find information on technology updates. Before looking at this chapter, I hadn't really looked at blogs as an information resource before. I realize that they are still public forums on which anyone can post, but they can stand as a wealth of information as well. In school I've always been so used to analyzing validity of sources that I never considered blogs as anything more than personal diaries. 

Making Money

In the section about advertisements, I could see how bloggers who are truly devoted to posting could opt for this extra bonus cash, but I would think that having enough advertisements on one's blog to be able to support themselves would be a bit overwhelming for readers. The sponsorships, though, seem worse to me. I don't like the concept that bloggers are being hired out to give their "opinion" on a product. It makes me not trust them, whether or not I know about it, because they are being hired to say or promote something they may not truly believe in. I would be upset as a reader to find out about this as well.

Corporation Blogs

I do support corporations using blogs to their advantage. A key component to be competitive is being able to keep up with the ever advancing technology. As Rhettburg says, corporations can effectively participate in active discussions about their product on blogs that have already been created, they can directly speak with their customers and patrons, as well as promote new products or provide their supporters with breaking news. This gives a more genuine feel to companies because it provides that transparent nature that is becoming more popular for building credibility. I think blogs can also be seen as an effective form of customer service because someone from the company can respond and at least try to get readers to the person they need to talk to. I personally haven't read many corporate blogs, but I think that Oracle's blog is a great example of everything Rhettburg is talking about (Oracle is a company that provides business software and hardware systems). This is definitely an effective marketing technique in my eyes.

Discussion Questions
How can blogs be viewed more as an informational resource rather than solely personal opinions? How do bloggers that view themselves as journalists convince their readers that they are reliable?