What’s a Blog?

17
Jan

Posted by Krista

When I mentioned to a friend that I was starting a ‘blog,’ I got a blank stare and a sarcastic remark, so I figured I’d take a moment to discuss one of the latest and easiest to use technologies out there - the weblog, affectionately called a ‘blog.’ Sure, blogs have been around for quite some time, but they have recently become increasingly popular. Some even see them as an alternative to email since so much email is now ’spam’ that getting people’s attention through that medium can be increasingly difficult. They are easy to set up and in just a couple of minutes, you can have a blog up and running - and depending on which provider you go with, they can even be free (ie our blog from blogger.com)!

Ok, but what’s a blog?

Let’s try this definition from Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content by Biz Stone, which is a pretty good overview if you’re interested in learning more.

Blogs are usually made up of brief, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically. The text most often flows vertically down the page, and modules or boxes aligned in columns down the sides of the page very often provide information about the author’s favorite links, recently read books, recently seen movies, currently playing albums, and so forth.

Some blogs serve as microportals, publishing commentary and links to other sites relating to a particular topic; whereas others lean more toward online journals, where the content focuses mainly on the thoughts and experiences of the author and the links more frequently point to that person’s other projects, essays, and so on. In any case, a blog usually takes on the character of the person or persons that contribute to it because it is so simple to update. This ease of use leads to frequent posting, which creates a fluid, ongoing “conversation” with an audience that helps to bring out the nature of the person “behind the screen.”

How does it work?

Once you sign up with a blogging service provider - some of the biggies include Blogger.com, Movable Type, and Userland.com - you just go to the admin section of your blog, fill out a form, and hit “publish”. It’s extremely simple.

Blogs are Becoming More Popular

The ABA recently published an article on Blogging in their January/February 2004 edition of Law Practice Management. In it, they discuss the functionality and ease of use of blogging - anyone can do it! And blawging has gained enormous popularity within the legal community. Of course, not everyone published useful content - as the ABA article mentions, Sturgeon’s law states that “Ninety percent of everything is crud.” While it’s true that countless blogs are random musings that have little point, there are also blogs out there that provide useful information and content. (Hopefully you’ll find this one to be of benefit!)

One point I would like to address: the article hypothesizes that paying for a professionally designed website may become obsolete as more blog template interfaces become available. I tend to disagree. There is something to be said for a well structured website listing the basic information of the firm in an easy to find structure. I believe blogs will become more incorporated into websites, but I don’t think they will replace the overall site, particularly as more law firms move to more complex technologies such as providing extranets for clients. Most blogs still tend to be ‘attorney centric’ (meaning they’re more personal journals with bits of content interspersed) and while many make it easy to access current articles, it is difficult to find those written several months ago. Some blogs offer the functionality of categories and a search feature, which makes organization a little better, but without structured navigation, few users will be willing to read everything you’ve ever written to find some morsel of information on the topic they are looking for.

So, in the short term, yes, having a blog is definitely better than a static website with little information other than attorney bios, 4 word practice area descriptions, and contact information (though that should still be there somewhere!) However, I don’t see it replacing well designed websites any time soon.

Regardles, there must be something to blogging now that search engine Google has bought out Blogger.com!

Learning More

Some good articles on lawyer blogs:

Blogs as a Disruptive Technology by Jerry Lawson in ABA Law Practice Management Jan/Feb 2004

eLawyer Blog moderated by Jerry Lawson

Ernie the Attorney

Non-legal resources include:

5 Key Questions (You’ve Been Dying) To Ask About Business Blogs by Debbie Weil