Introduction to BloggingFor Business Communicators

IABC PresentationApril 21, 2005

Presented by Alec Couros

IntroductionWhat are Blogs?

How can I set up a Blog?

Overview of Blogging• A blog (or weblog) is a web-based application

that enables users to post text, images, audio or video to a webpage. Posts are (ideally) periodic, and usually arranged in reverse chronological order.

• Advantages of weblogging:– Simple, assisted html production, as easy as

sending an email message. Publication is live and instant.

– Customizable templates via CSS.– Ideal for group communications.– Simple syndication and subscription through various

aggregators (no need to check page for updates).

Overview of Blogging (cont.)• Blogging has evolved from its early origin as a

medium for the publication of simple, online personal diaries, to the latest disruptive technology, the ‘killer app’ that has the capacity to engage people in collaborative activity, knowledge sharing, reflection and debate (Hiler, 2003).

• The nature of blogging engines allows for the creation of a legitimate warehousing of captured knowledge, and archiving for later retrieval (Bausch, Haughley & Hourihan, 2002).

• In business, "Blogs can be valuable for storing business communications, collaborating with colleagues, and sharing information with clients and vendors” (Lawlor, 2003)

Anatomy of a Web Log – Moveable Type 3Post Title

Link of Interest

Static Address

Feedback/ Conversation

Notification Post Date

Calendar

Archives

Blogging Software/Services• There are various tools that allow one to publish a

blog. These are often split between software and web-based services.

• Web-based services

• Software

Blogger- Web-based, owned by Google- Very simple to setup (takes a few minutes)- Easy to setup group blogs, but users must beBlogger.com members- Limited customization (just styles)- Possible to serve Blogger blogs on externalFTP servers

Moveable Type- Software – created and supported by Six Apart- Must install on server, but easy to setup- User interface simple- Easy to create group blogs- Large user community- Used to be free to use, but version 3+ must belicensed (outside of personal use).- Much easier to customize to specific use

WordPress- Open Source – free to use and modify- Must install on server, but easy to setup- User interface simple- Easy to create group blogs- Large user community, and many plug-ins available- Easy to customize style

What Makes Blogging Different?Key Attributes

Ease of Use• Let’s take a look at just how easy• IABC Blog –

http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/IABCBlog

Customizable• There are templates and/or themes available for

many of the blog engines (e.g., Moveable Type, Wordpress, Blogger).

• You can change the look, feel and style of your blog without losing any of the data. Style and data remain separate.

• Wordpress, for example has many downloadable themes that are available for free. Additionally, each theme can be tweaked or modified with some technical skill.

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RSS• RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich

Site Summary. • What it means to the common user is that one can

subscribe to a blog using a feed reader or aggregator.

• There are many free aggregator packages. Some include:– Bloglines (web-based, great if you read from more than

one computer).– Feedreader (free and works great)– Net News Wire Lite (free LE version, Mac only, very

popular)– Shrook (Mac only, my personal choice)– Many other applications (browsers, email clients) are

integrating RSS reading into new versions of software.

Collaboration & Groups• It’s obviously very easy to set up a group blog.• A couple of excellent group blogs include

Slashdot, and Boing Boing.• There are also some excellent sites that are not

strictly blogs, but incorporate blogging technology into their services to develop shared communities. Some examples include:– Flickr (photosharing)

• See examples transparent screens, “what’s in your bag”.– MSN Spaces (Microsoft integrates blogging, mail, instant

messaging, photos, etc.)– Yahoo! 360 (new blogging and integrated space from

MS’s biggest competitor)

In the larger context: The open movement.

• Open Source Software: Linux (alternative to MS Windows), Open Office (alternative to MS Office), the GIMP (alternative to Adobe Photoshop)

• Open Content– CourseWare and Learning Object repositories: MIT’s

OpenCourseWare Initiative, CAREO, MERLOT, CLOE, DLORN.

– Wikis: Wikipedia, Wikitravel, Wikibooks.– Texts: California Open Textbook Project,

• Free “As in Beer” Content– Journals: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)– Literature: Project Gutenberg

• Open Publishing– IndyMedias: Independent Media Centre, TearItAllDown– Blogging Services: Blogger, LiveJournal– Other: Student Publishing

Opposing ForcesOpen vs. Closed

Broadcast vs. ConversationInstitution vs. Individual

Hierarchy vs. Network

Centralized vs. DecentralizedProduct vs. Remix

Planned vs. ChaoticStatic vs. Dynamic

Push vs. PullFrom Steven Downes Utah Presentation, 2004

Virtual CounterpartsInternet vs. Television

Fax Machine vs. Courier Services

Skype vs. the Telephone

Blogging vs. Newspapers

Email vs. Snail Mail

Technology... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it. ~Max Frisch

From Steven Downes Utah Presentation, 2004

BlogCount

From Elise.com

Technorati reports over 4 million blogs-Web-based Blogger is currently the most widely-used service

Types of BlogsSocial Action

DiariesBusinessPolitics

ScholarlyCourse Enhancement

ConferenceCollaborative Learning Space

Knowledge Management~

Photo/MoblogsPodCasts

Social Action

Diaries

Diaries

Diaries

Business

Business

Business

Politics

Scholarly

Scholarly

Scholarly

Course Enhancement

Course Enhancement

Conference

Conference

Conference

Knowledge Management (K-Logs)

Knowledge Management (K-Logs)

The Future is HereMoving Beyond Text: Multimedia Blogging

AudioBlogs

PhotoBlogs

moBlogs

Podcasts

Podcasts

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Blogging & BusinessThe Good & the Bad

Emerging Problems• Comment Spam (ugggh): Besides being illegal in

some areas, commenting spam is possibly one of the biggest downfalls of having a blog. With changes to Google’s AdSense program, perhaps this will lose some of it’s steam.

• SaveToby/KillToby, etc, and Similar: Such ploys get passed around from blog to blog, and as they get noticed, they get paid.

• Featured Advertising: Marqui is one company which pays bloggers to feature and review their products. Bloggers sign a contract and are given a set amount depending on their popularity.

Word of Mouth Marketing• Blogs can be a powerful tool in promoting “word

of mouth marketing”.• “Word of mouth” is a type of communication that

has a higher credibility, and blogs can pass word of mouth “memes” from person to person, and create a buzz via social networks.

• Gmail & FreshDirect are excellent examples of word of mouth success stories.

• Burger King’s “subservient chicken” and Beer.com’s “virtual bartender” were highly popular, but didn’t’ seem to cause much buzz about product.

Corporate Blogs• Corporate blogs can bring about a level of

closeness between corporation and consumer.• Many major companies now have corporate

blogs.• Google’s blog is an excellent example.

Starting Places• Couros Blog

– http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/couros• Wordpress site

– http://www.wordpress.org• Blogger

– http://www.blogger.com• Google Blog

– http://www.google.com/googleblog/• Engadget

– http://www.engadget.com/• Blogs & Wikis: Technology for Enterprise Applications?

(article)– http://www.gilbane.com/gilbane_report.pl/104/

Blogs__Wikis_Technologies_for_Enterprise_Applications.html• Blog to the Future (article)

– http://www.cmomagazine.com/read/030105/blog_future.html

ContactThis presentation can be downloaded at: http://

www.educationaltechnology.ca/couros click ‘Presentations’, then ‘Recent’,

Please contact me - email: alec.couros@uregina.ca,or Google me: keyword, ‘couros’

Thank you for your time and attention.