Thou Shalt Blog?

Robert Scoble and Shel Israel have painted a clear picture of blogging as a powerful tool that exposes oneself to the world — in favorable and unfavorable ways. Indeed, in the first 100-plus pages of Naked Conversations: How blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers, the two men do a great job of weaving conversations with an eclectic group of people with various business interests and backgrounds to extol the virtues and discuss the pitfalls of blogging.  

What stayed with me was something rather common about blogging, but intriguing nonetheless: culture.

Last week, while discussing (in Portuguese!) the pros and cons of killing the journalist license requirement in Brazil on a friend’s blog, I realized that culture is the one element in a country or a business that challenges what the blogosphere is about and what it can potentially accomplish. The list of blog cons should be properly considered, of course, but deciding whether or not to blog is not as simple as Scoble and Israel suggest. For some, the subjectivity of culture and the essence of blogging may be two competing matters. The authors do touch on the issue, but it will be interesting to find out whether the second half of the book will explore that in greater depth.

One other thing that I wish the writers would have discussed more is the issue of having time to blog. I believe that, more than anything, committing time is what will make or break a blog. Not everyone can be like Martha Stewart who apparently never sleeps and has her own blog studio! The reality is that blogging requires a serious amount of time and dedication. And in a corporate setting, especially, that’s a tall order. I still don’t quite understand how top executives can do their regular jobs effectively and still find time to blog. Stress, anyone? Judging from my own observations of American corporate culture, it just doesn’t seem very realistic. Group and other team approaches to blogging are noteworthy, but they still don’t quite address the real need of having to have time to blog.

Another issue is the “free now, monetize later” approach to blogging. Not everyone is looking to make a buck from blogging, but there are many businesses and people who are. Naked Conversations is thin on that topic; it states simply that if companies can offer content for free and find a way to cash in, they should. Easily said than done. I do agree that successful blogs should talk, not sell, but content monetization has become an important consideration for companies, especially if professionals are expected to devote time and energy to write blog entries and respond to comments. The English Cut site example discussed on the book demonstrates how blogs can be integrated to sell consumer goods, but how about companies and individuals whose product is actual content? Are site ads and subscription services still really it?

Finally, it’s amazing that a book that was published only two years ago is already bordering on ancient history. There are many aspects of the book that are timeless (and history is an important part of understanding a subject), but it’s unsettling to read books on digital age topics and feel that they’re becoming obsolete as you turn each page. The person who can one day best address this dichotomy will certainly stand to profit greatly.