The Nature of blogs
I have recently paused to consider the nature of blogs. What kind of assumptions should the reader of a blog make about what they are reading? Is it "caveat emptor"?
When the blog phenomenon started, I initially considered these to be a personal, on-line diary. As such, I would consider them the personal views of the author and I would treat them no differently than a letter to the editor in the newspaper.
But, what about professional blogs, like this one? Are we still reading the personal views of the author or something else?
Suppose that the president had a blog. I wouldn't expect any personal insight there; in fact, I'd expect the blog to be written by a staffer and very carefully wordsmithed and spin controlled. That's the nature of politics. After all, it is the president's "official" blog and to a certain extent, an official communication of the government.
Professional blogs are probably somewhere in the middle, between the spin and polish of a president or ceo's blog and a teen-ager's blog about what's cool. Given that, how should the reader view the information presented?
I was recently disheartened to see a professional blog entry being given the kind of spin & polish I describe above. The result was an extremely biased and slanted entry that did not give the topic a fair treatment and left out any detail which put the technology in an unfavorable light. It amounted to little more than corporate propaganda foisted by some well meaning, but perhaps misguided employees.
Is this appropriate content for professional blogs and should the readers read all entries with "a grain of salt"? What do you think?
Bill Baker
Posted at 10:11AM Jun 21, 2007 by webaker in General |