Ten years ago if you would have told someone you had a blog, they would have been confused. While the term itself has existed for around 9 years now, its current meaning wasn’t realized until around 2003 or 2004. Originally, it simply meant “weblog” or a journal of your life online. You described events that happened to you just like you would in a handwritten personal journal.
These days, a blog is much more than a journal. While many people operate “web journals,” a much smaller portion operates what I would consider to be a true “blog” in its current meaning. Blogs have become a place for not only journalism by the public (which has seriously impacted the area of politics), but also a way to provide and spread information. Some of the most popular blogs on the internet take current events, provide their own opinions concerning those events, and make any recommendations or suggestions as a result.
Blogs have become what I believe the single most powerful and influential medium of the spread of information, whatever it may be, across the internet. Ranging from “how to” articles, to in-depth critiques of politics, to why you liked the movie you saw last night or why you chose to purchase a specific product, it not only covers a wide range of topics, but also carries a lot of power. Blogs get information out there.
I personally saw this power firsthand, albeit not as major as some people have. When I wrote about the trouble I had with Kensington’s website and trouble with Kensington’s customer support line, four days later I received a comment on that post from Kensington’s product manager about the issue. How he found the blog entry, I’ll never know. At no point did I give out my website or email address which could have led him there. Chances are he was doing a PR search concerning Kensington and found my blog entry. One week later, I not only got the product I was looking for, but got it for free and only after he had gone through a bit of trouble to find a discontinued item for me.
While that item was only a mousepad, it even more shows the true power of blogging in 2008. If someone such as that product manager is so concerned about every bit of PR out there about his company, even about a mousepad, how much more concerned should politicians be concerning world matters and the voices of the public?
This is demonstrated by people around the world being executed and imprisoned for giving their opinion online concerning their local politics.
What do you think? How powerful is blogging really, and how will it change things in 2008 and beyond?
