I haven’t really been following the debate of whether or not microblogging (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook “updates”) is/will/can kill blogging.
Kevin O’Keefe has a piece today, Law blogs far from dead in this world of microblogging : Blogging is on the rise that goes into detail about why blogs aren’t dead.
Personally, I didn’t need to attend Blog World to know that blogs are on the rise. I continue to get more and more of my news and information from blogs. I’m seeing more and more mainstream news organizations take on blogging rather than just writing or posting news stories. In my industry, legal, I continue to see more and more attorneys and law firms embracing blogging as a necessary means of communication, and not see it as simply a fad.
Granted, microblogging is still met with skepticism by most people with whom I engage in the “real” world. They think Twitter is silly, and don’t understand “why would people want to know what I’m eating?” (By the way, I don’t care to know what you’re eating, I want to know what you’re thinking … the eating part is just a silly sidebar you can use, only if you have already established trust with me.)
I’ve never really considered either tool as mutually exclusive. In fact, I have a hard time developing relationships with microbloggers who don’t have a blog. I’m not saying that relationships CAN’T develop with microblogging alone, I’m simply saying that the relationships are SLOWER to develop, and therefore the value is more elusive.
In his post, Kevin comments on Rick Klau’s presentation at Blog World:
I couldn’t agree more with Klau (also a lawyer) that “Microblogs are complementary, not competitive, [they are] a driver of attention and engagement back to the blog.”
As Klau reports is the case with his blog, Twitter has become the highest traffic generator for my blog outside of search. As is my practice, Klau suggested “Rather than trying to fight against the flow on microblogging, to embrace it, and make sure your content is available to these disparate networks, while remembering to engage where it lands.”
Think about it. How authoritative can I be in 140 characters? I can be witty, salient, poignant, humorous, memorable, charming, annoying, but it is difficult to build trust, reliability, and respect in 140 characters ALONE.
I counsel people to use microblogging, particularly Twitter, to grab the attention of the masses around those broad areas of commonality, whether it is the law, your industry, or personal interests (Go Dodgers!). I like to think of my social media and social networking as a funnel that lead to the trifecta of Know, Like and Trust … and we all know that, all things being equal, clients hire attorneys that they know, like and trust. :
Twitter is the wide net where I can capture the interest from the masses. I can then lead people to my blog, where they can learn more about me and my opinions. From here, LinkedIn Connections can be made, providing more detailed information about who I am, my experience, and who I know. I find that it is somewhere around here that relationships start to develop via commenting on blogs, retweeting posts, direct messages and the like.
For me, once a more personal relationship develops, then and only then, do I send or accept a Facebook Friend request (I have pictures of my kids in there, after all).
So, microblogging killing blogs?? I think that the social media and social networking platforms have vital use for both. And while both can be utilized successfully as independent tools, I will continue to use both to complement the other.