PMcrunch

Web sociologists and philosophers have both overestimated and underestimated the power of blogs. Blogs, or online diaries, as some people have mistakenly labeled them, are now all over the Internet. Artists have their blogs in order to showcase their work and write about their artistic experiences or even their work with the media. Journalists have their blogs to make reports straight from the field. Novelists have previews of their work on their blogs.  Blogs indeed have so many possibilities for projects, that in each case it needs to be considered carefully.
 

There are many ways that blogs can be used to both do business and chronicle people’s lives, so much so that they have evolved their own language and norms. These communication nuances unique to blogs are used by the members of the blogosphere in navigating through blogs, studying them, responding to entries in them, and ultimately creating better blogs that both conform to known blog rules while standing out from the crowd.
The main idea in making a blog used to be self-expression; now, blog making is a bid for fame and a broadcasting of one’s uniqueness. It can be a way to sell things, to update customers, and to study markets. As blogs become all the more commercialized, their language and communication nuances become all the more important for people in business to learn. After all, if one gets the language of blogs, one can easily integrate into the blogosphere and learn more about markets – and ultimately get more profit.
So what makes a blog unique? What makes the world of blogs so different, and what makes the communication so different from conventional print media? And why should you take note of these nuances?

1. Blogs are now a way to market products and services – but more so, they are a way to study the market for products and services. Regular bloggers express themselves quite unabashedly online, and with the proliferation of free expression and encouragement of opinion, bloggers will often talk frankly of how much they like or hate certain things.
2. Take note of how these opinions arise – they can come as soon as the release of a new product or service is launched, so if you have a special product or service out, start going through blogs. The language will be honest, open, and oftentimes harsh, but it can give you an idea about how your market is operating, how it is behaving, and if your work is paying off.
3. That said, you can see why some people prefer not to read blogs. Blogs do not mince words: the best bloggers are the frankest ones, the ones who have no secrets to keep and do not hesitate to say the worst (or best) about things that they don’t like (or do). This frank language can be peppered with swear words, so read at your own risk. Moreover, this frank language is not exactly grammatically correct, so if you are sensitive to wrong grammar, remember that the web has long since espoused the idea of quickness – quick posting and quick writing are not often of the best quality.
4. Blog writing, if well done, however, is terse and witty. This is because people have so little time to read blogs, so bloggers have only a limited amount of time and space to express themselves. This reflects how marketing operates online: the shorter your message is, the more white space people can see, the better it will be for you and your products or services.
5. Most blogs are not simple text diaries. They will have pictures and videos, even animation, to go with an entry. This bid for a reader’s attention is apparent in many different blogs, so much so that writing quality is not as valued. Visual aids are appreciated – which should make you aware of how short the attention span of the average Internet user is. Use this information to guide you in making your ads: visual aids are not just a plus, they are a requirement.
6. Despite its short attention span, this generation of Internet users is extremely sensitive to hard selling techniques. Avoid hard selling online lest you be labeled as a spammer! Blog writing is straight to the point, but it is never hard sell – so watch out, or your language might come back and bite you.

These are only a few communication nuances unique to blogs. As technology evolves, and as more and more people read and create blogs, the blog culture will have new properties and features. The market of the future is just growing and evolving.
How can blogs help you and your project teams?