Popular Demand: More Strategy, Less Tech Stuff
Yesterday I held a Writing for the Web-course, and for the first time I included blogs. Not very deep, I just said that this is happening right now and it may be a development that will influence web communications for most organizations in the years to come. The participants were all web editors or communication directors, and I'm pretty sure none of them had thought about blogs for professional uses until I started talking about it (that's the way it is in Europe).
The short discussion showed me two things. First of all, the basic idea is really easy to understand. All of them managed immediately to see the distinctive features of blogs: The conversation, the difference between a (their) regular writing style and a more personal voice, the possibilities with a less formal communication channel.
Second, the technical stuff is really hard to sell. People just don't want to hear another three-letter word. They can't see any reason whatsoever to start using one more source (or client) to get information. It's bad enough already. I think I lost them for a minute when I mentioned Technorati...
Now, if this picture is generelly valid it's a great opportunity. People wants to talk about what really matters. But - those of us who is regularly writing about blogging have a tendency to become completely overwhelmed by whatever new tech angle we can find. Me included.
I will try to find more strategic discussions or subjects, I think. It would for example be exciting to find a news item that an organization has published both as a press release and as a blog post, to compare the messages and styles. Any tip?