It's the age of self-publishing. The playing field is fully leveled and everyone with an internet connection and web browser can be heard as clearly as your favorite television news anchor. A teenager in Israel with a web cam becomes a political correspondent, a co-ed in a dorm room a fashion idol.

Blogging (the writing and publication of blogs) is a means of self-publishing one's own thoughts and opinions (though it is sometimes also used for fiction and other creative writing).

Blogging has been with us for a few years, but social networking sites (like MySpace and Facebook) have raised the profile of individuals by building connections between them. Creating groups and communities where it is customary to write, read, comment, share, and even vote for your favorites.

For Public Relations, the "blogiverse" is a rich breeding ground for eager readers. It combines the authenticity of personal opinion with the vast world web audience. Low-cost to free, it is readily available and easily accessible (though expandable into the more complex and high-end "video blog" which employs multimedia in the messaging).

In some cases blogs are the intellectual product of a known entity, such as the CEO of a corporation or a celebrity. It allows the reader a familiarity with a spokesperson that simple news release quotes do not, and often the ability to reply and engage.

In other cases, blogs are used discretely, as a means of affecting opinion and releasing information covertly. A recent case saw a CEO investigated for securities fraud after publishing a series of blogs attempting to devalue the business of his primary competition. Dangerous waters best avoided.

But used honesty and openly, blogging as a business communications tool is a highly effective, fun and extremely valuable means of by-passing picky editors and communicating directly and frequently with your audience and market. As a website addition, blogging has tremendous value in building and keeping an audience, and are highly content rich website additions which significantly increase site traffic and search engine weighting.

Learn more about this author, Starri Knight.
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