As PR’s we often assess the value of a media channel through its advertising rate or readerships – but the emergence of a new somewhat unmeasurable voice has our system stumped. Bloggers, young and old are taking a hold of the information highway – giving views, making news and influencing people!
Of recent times, we here at the Red PR office are becoming more and more aware of the importance, and influence of bloggers. The Stylists Apprentice event held earlier this month generated huge buzz on Brisbane fashion blogs and spoke to an audience that may otherwise been missed.
It’s no secret that as technology continues to develop and our want for instant news/ knowledge is increasing, blogs are fast becoming the new news stations. But do we really understand the power blogs have?
Ten years ago citizen journalists struggled to get published in influential news providers like Vogue or The New York Times, and their personal opinions had little to no power in swaying political views.
Fast forward to 2011 and the blogosphere has exploded – from light, fluffy blogs, to blogs that attack hard news – journalists be weery, blogs are showing no signs of slowing down!
There are very few limitations to who can blog and what they can blog about, making it an open forum for people of all ages, sexes, generations, races, and religions.
Take 14 (YES 14!!) year old Tavi Gevinson from the US. Tavi has been blogging on The Style Rookie since 2008 and is fast becoming a well-known name in the American fashion industry.
How? The girl knows her stuff – from fashion to pop culture, to the daily happenings in her life – Tavi has you covered! Her blog is simple in its layout, but filled with exciting, professional-like images with her own thoughts and commentary.
Last year at New Yorks “Fashion’s Night Out,” Tavi met Vogue Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour – a sure sign of things to come for the budding writer… all because of a blog!
It’s not just written blogs that have exploded – video blogs are also have a huge impact in the journalism world.
“The YouTube Effect” refers to the way a technology, designed mostly for a younger demographic (teens and early 20’s), has become a force for both political and economic change.
This was particularly evident in the 2008 run for presidency in the US, where everyday citizens took to YouTube to give their opinions on both candidates, sparking a lot of heated debate.
In response to this growth market, YouTube have created ‘World View’, offering users of the site the opportunity to pose monitored questions to some of the world’s most influential leaders. A lucky few are then streamed live and answered by the interviewee.
President Barack Obama was the first world leader to participate in this and you can see his World View video here – surely an opportunity many journalists can only dream of!
I think it’s safe to say that blogging is here to stay and will continue to change how we receive news and who from. Should journalists and new outlets be worried? Yes. Bloggers are capturing things news stations may miss and providing opinions that would otherwise be silenced.
For those of you who are now thinking you would like to start a blog, here a few tips that may come in handy before starting off;
1. Choose a blog name that will stick – something catchy, not just “John Smith’s Blog”
2. Know what you want to write about before you start – don’t talk about the latest runaway show at Milan fashion week, if every other blog you’ve written is about politics!! Inconsistency is confusing!
3. Know what you want to get out of the blog – is it something you are doing for yourself, your business, a specific target audience?
4. Define your target audience.
5. Once you start, don’t stop! There’s nothing worse than getting really involved with someone’s blog and then not hearing a peep out of them for six months!
6. Allow for feedback and responses to your blogs – create a conversational blog, it might mean being challenged by readers, but hey, at least you have them!
7. Each blog you post should have photos that accompany it – a visually appealing blog looks so much more inviting than one that is filled with writing.
8. Be yourself! Personalise the page with a background, writing style and images that represents you!
9. Do not write to impress your audience – YOUR blog is YOUR forum to give YOUR opinion! The worst thing that can happen is that you lose a few followers!
10. Last but not least – have fun with it!
Happy blogging!
