Feb 22nd, 2007
The Blog Chasm
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According to a still in progress Kent State/BurrellsLuce study some 3 out of 4 PR professionals don’t monitor blogs. That’s pretty consistent with the finding that only 18.5 percent say they work for organizations that use their own blogs to facilitate communication with key stakeholders.
Given this state of affairs, the question I’d like to pose is what will become of blogs? To be sure there are a lot of blogs, and there are some that are doing very well. But given this study, blogs are not yet mainstream. If we look at the Geoffry Moore “Crossing the Chasm” model, it’s not a given that blogging in general will cross the chasm. While it’s perhaps in the tornado, it has not yet made it to mainstreet USA. Will it?
Along a similar vein, what shape will blogging take? Sure it’s fun to “talk amongst ourselves” or write a journal about visits to Aunt Marge. In that sense, blogging is nice way to use the Web. But the bigger question for those of us in the PR/marketing/communication biz, is will blogging someday usurp traditional or mainstream media (I’m trying to avoid using the somewhat derogatory MSM label).
What I find interesting is how some of the bigger blogs are becoming pretty much like any other media outlet. They have multiple reporters, they certainly have some technical help behind the scenes, and most likely some sales and marketing folks helping to bring in those sponsor dollars. Hmm, sounds pretty mainstream to me. From a PR perspective, I think we all know how to work with these type of outfits.
All of which brings me to my final thought: If blogging does succeed in crossing the chasm, does anything change?
Hmm, sounds pretty mainstream to me. From a PR perspective, I think we all know how to work with these type of outfits.