What blogging is good for
Colin Mulvany, a veteran photojournalist and, more recently, a videographer for his newspaper, started his blog on Jan. 1, 2008. Already he has learned all kinds of unexpected things — in just two short weeks. Not because he read about blogging. Because he IS blogging:
We talk a lot about being web-centric at my paper. But unless you are tapped into the social networking universe, I don’t believe you can really understand what being web-centric means.
I will be honest with you, until I started this blog, I barely understood the concept myself. I was shocked by how many people Mastering Multimedia has reached in such a short amount of time. But what really opened my eyes was how people are finding this blog. RSS feeds, tags, Goggle Reader, blog rolls, and links from other social networks. It’s about sharing. It’s about a conversation. It’s about Web 2.0.
I now understand.
Why start a blog, if you are a journalist? I think Colin shows us why.
In some industries and walks of life I can understand the discrepancy between thinking and doing, but when it comes to blogging, social media and Web communities there’s absolutely no excuse for not participating. I certainly wouldn’t put any stock in Web pundits who don’t blog. How can they discuss such a unique process if they’re not actively involved? This isn’t an industry where you can sit behind a one-way mirror and watch all the developments. You’ve got to participate to know how it works and where its strengths and weaknesses are.
January 17, 2008 at 9:16 am