The Importance of being Blog-worthy: Is Twitter taking over?
Posted by Lauren Potgieter on 12 Aug 2009 | Tagged as: Social Media
In today’s society, blogging and blog surfing can be a waste of time for some, and a vital daily activity for others. If you feel like reading someone’s good old rant and rave, visit their personal blog solely dedicated to their hatred of Crocs. If you want to brush up on your knowledge of extra-terrestrials and their estimated time of earth arrival, there is a blog for that too. Blogs in businesses are ever increasing as companies push the personal as well as the “get to know us” approach. Lately, there seems to be a trend appearing as blogs are losing their long-winded content and opting for a snappier and more straightforward approach. In a world where skimming is the norm, individuals and companies alike are shortening paragraphs, sentences and words in order to fit in with social media sites such as Twitter. Therefore, the question must be asked: Are these blogs falling short or is shorter better?
Blogs serve in providing additional information to your current website where individuals can read up on snippets which include topics, reviews and interests provided by your company. One cannot always depend on visitors to your site clicking directly on your “about me” section as much as you can depend on them visiting your blog page for a quick, general read through. Bloggers are now shortening their posts to run in accordance with the Twitter trend – where bite-sized posts read only as much as 140 characters or less. Some may feel that creative freedom is limited when one has to edit one’s content to such a degree that it can be read in a rapid timeframe. One, however, has to face the fact that people do not have as much time to read these days, whether it be books, blogs or any other informational source. We are a society of wants, and we want what we want when we want it.
Many businesses are cashing in on the Twitter phenomenon and using their Twitter account in conjunction with their blog. One can go and read a company or individual blog and then link to their twitter account where one can follow news and views, as well as be informed when their preferred blogger or company has posted something new. It seems that Tweeting is just as sufficient and informative as blogging, besides the fact that it leaves out the fluff and moves straight onto the point that it is attempting to make.
For all the bloggers out there, there is no reason to panic. Blogging is still a prominent factor in businesses, with many preferring to reveal their “softer side,” put down their “for sale” sign and opt for a more personal and relaxed voice in order to reach the reader on an entirely new level.
As much as everyone is sick and tired of hearing about blogs, they still continue to attract attention and will do so for years to come. Yes, there are millions of blogs out there that are never read, but be optimistic, update and entertain and a readership will form. Shorter blogs are coming out on top, but blogs are still being read. It is true that sites like Twitter are influencing the structure of blogs slightly and it is expected that blogs will follow suit and adapt due to outside factors in order to gain readership and continue to relate. Just as the topic of a blog must relate to the reader, so must the content and structure fall into line, in order to present the viewer with the full blog-worthy package.
This is where I sign off, as this blog has highly exceeded 140 characters and I fear that readers will have already moved on to shorter pieces, worthy of a Tweet or two.
