"Do you speak blog?" That's a statement I often make when speaking about blogs. To preface it, I'll do a quick blog search for a topic about a particular industry. I point out the list of blogs and bloggers that are talking about that subject (sometimes it's hundreds or thousands). Next I turn back to the audience and say here are people talking about you or your shared interests, they'd love to talk to you, but, "Do you speak blog?"
One of the few ways you can communicate with bloggers is via blogs. Sending an e-mail out of the blue can sometimes backfire. I realize there is no 'official' blog language and it can sound slightly elitist, but there is blog etiquette. For corporations, speaking blog is a difficult thing. It's especially difficult for organizations that have never really talked to their customers.
Visitor Comments
Thanks for your post, it gave the impulse I needed today. I discovered your Blog today, I am glad I did. I am a PR consultant starting blog consultancy real soon.
I 'd be blogging too!
Nan
Paris
France
Posted by: nan | February 14, 2006 10:07 AM
"Blog speak" still confuses me. I am only a baby in the blogging world, but I feel as though there is an entire language to learn in order to understand the blogging world. Even when I learn a new term, I never know how to use it and when and how it is properly used. And so many are so fluent in the terminology that I often feel intimdated in using it.
Are there books out there or posts that are beneficial in learning about these new terms and topics? Seems as though a comprehensive website or something of that nature could be really helpful to all of us new bloggers out there in the "blogosphere."
Posted by: Katie | February 14, 2006 5:57 PM
Well I really am not sure if I "speak" blog or not. I know that it seems harder for me to post things than it seems to be for the seasoned "bloggers" but I am hoping it is a something that is learned. I sometimes feel as if I am writing in a journal when I write my blogs but then I have to stop myself and realize that future employers, coworkers, teachers and friends could all see what I am writing. I worry about grammar as I write so that is what makes it different from a journal entry.
I hope, like I said, that the more I blog the more serious I will be taken. It seems like a person must establish themselves in the blogging world to be taken serious. It is frustrating sometimes but it is essential for PR. As a senior studying PR, I realize how important it is for me to get involved in the blogs and learn how to "speak blog."
Posted by: Hillary | February 14, 2006 6:41 PM