The Corporate Blog
A blog is, above and beyond all, a personal endeavor. Its charm is based partly in the personality of its creator. People develop relationships with blog writers. They read the thoughts of another human being, sometimes daily, and feel a real connection with them.
With that in mind, what are we to do with the professional blogs of the world? Take Reading Rockets as today's example. A self-described, "national multimedia project offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help", the site has just started two little blogs. Sound It Out is by Joanne Meier, a researcher, writer, and teacher while Page By Page is by Maria Salvadore.
The blogs have a nice clean format and regular headings. Their pieces feel like small articles, which is fine and all. Blogs are so new at this moment that in their many shapes and forms they all get lumped together under a single heading. These blogs have a different intent than those like Fuse #8, so it's funny to see them called the same thing. Perhaps a new name should be coined for bloggers who get paid for their words vs. those of us who don't.
Just a thought.
Labels: Blogs of Unholy Magnitude, Page By Page, Reading Rockets, Sound It Out
posted by fusenumber8 @ 12:01 AM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
Hello,
I agree, I'd love a way to distinguish one from another.
Mark & I (from JOMB) put forward an idea to have those projects which accept no money for their efforts marked by a common "Powered by Passion" graphic/icon (and "registered" in a single location).
Unfortunately, our registration website was lost during an outage in the fall! Have to get on that.
Some of the PBP idea disucussed here:
http://www.markblevis.com/powered-by-passion/
we'd love to hear your thoughts..
Andrea
www.JustOneMoreBook.com
On the other hand, I think the broad spectrum of different kinds of blogs, different types of writing, and different reasons behind them all makes a statement too: one that is diverse and welcoming to all creativity, whether for-profit or not, innovative or not. If the term "blog" were limited to only a certain type of writing, those who wanted to do something outside the limits would feel discouraged.
I trust, as with practically anything on the internet, that the discerning reader will be able to separate the corporate agenda from the personal.
Anyway, I like the idea of lumping everyone together. That puts my writing, and all of yours, on the same level as those of Reading Rockets, or Penguin, or Powell's. To me, it feels empowering.
Wow, talk about dithering. I read the first comment and thought - exactly right, powered by passion. Then I read comment number two and thought - oh yes, even steven across the board.
Are blogs that are not personally driven really even blogs though? Maybe just a different name, frogs, logs, grogs.
hmmm.
-Suze
I'm not so sure that Maria is paid to write her blog. It's probably part of her workday, but may be off work time spent -- like yours, Betsy.
Our library has a BLOG. Authors have BLOGs. Should these be considered passions or duty? Interesting question.
I view "blog" as simply a tool that allows one to easily publish on the web. A blogger is someone using that tool.
Blogs and bloggers can range far and wide.
I see no problem with people being paid to blog; the bloggers over at Club Mom are paid, I believe. Publishers have blogs, such as Flux. I imagine that Roger Sutton's blog is work related. Work related = getting paid to do it.
The only type of blog for money I'd object to is one that is a blog pretending to be an individual's blog that is actually a marketing tool for a company selling something. Because that is misrepresentation; that is being dishonest; and that is being manipulative.
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I think about this issue, being a librarian currently working for a book company. Do people assume my blog is connected to the company I work for? Do people think I'm getting paid for it? I'm really not sure how it's taken, and I try hard to make the distinction that while my blog is "professional" it's also personal.
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