BLOGGERS THE NEW JOURNALISTS?

The availability of Internet connection has already beneficing our daily lives, as we all know. Whether you are a student (especially), Public Relations practitioner, journalist or mother of 8 kids, It is rather difficult to separate the Internet with our daily lives nowadays.

With the availability of internet and the hours spent by user online, users usually utilize online platform to discuss what’s happening surround them and react by giving out opinions, discussing and commenting. These allow conversations to occur, also known as online word of mouth (Nakajima, Tatemura, Hino et.al. , 2005). Which as a PR we need to be aware off to study what are the publics are talking about our company, clients, or those area that are affecting businesses.

Internet offers interactive applications like social media sites, websites, games and many more, it is going beyond the capabilities of traditional media (Ward, 2006).  In this post we will look at what Wright and Hinson (2008) describe as “Potential impact in Public Relations practice is phenomenal”, - the Blogs.

Blogs or Weblogs are define as online journals or diaries applications (Rodman, 2008). Blogs allows users (which can be anyone) to express and publish their thoughts online and it can be read by millions of Internet users world wide, for free. Bloggers or some call them citizen journalists, are the writers of these blogs. Some being influential enough, they actually make blogging their full-time job.

PR practitioners nowadays have recognized the influence of these bloggers that they find the need to include them in their PR campaigns and activities. Being a Fashion Blogger myself in Malaysia, I still remember the first email invitation to a fashion event that I received back in 2010. During the guests’ registration process, Bloggers names are to be registered at the media registration counter.

So are these bloggers, also a “media” to PR practitioners? I have asked this question to Nadira Ruslan PR executives at PRCOMM, which previous projects includes lifestyle events. She said “In such a digital age, bloggers are capable of disseminating information sometimes more efficiently than traditional press. Fashion bloggers, especially have such an eye for visual detail and are truly able to capture the event’s look and feel through their photos. Combined with their first-person views, an event comes to life almost once again to their loyal followers.”

 If we think logically, traditional media has limited space, bulk of invites and releases at one time and deadlines to publish news, where as compared to blogers they are not govern by these. Furthermore some blogs cover topics niche enough and have specific demographic readers to suits in PR campaigns target audience. There goes the saying “Getting the right message, to the right public”.

Sam Kassim of Sam Kassim Events which previous clients include Kose cosmetic said, “Everything that gave us publicity we will invite, no matter what form it is”. Publicity is the winning triumph for PR efforts. It also refers as measurement and evaluation of success in PR efforts. So would you not take a free and easier publicity?

In addition, some bloggers have gone beyond than just writing sharing thoughts on their blogs. Their popularity have been recognized and they have became a personality and public figure. Let us take example of Bryan Boy who blog about fashion for bryanboy.com . Started as just sharing his fashion thoughts from Manila, Philippines. He is now flying from New York to London to Paris to Milan and all over the world catching up fashion weeks, which he was exclusively invited as fashion blogger. He wasn’t seated in the at 6^th rows (which usually have very bad view of the runway), in fact he was seated next to fashion editors like Anna Wintour of Vogue in the front row. His influence also have made the producer of America’s Next Top Model season 19 invite him as a guests judge (Lau, 2012).

Bryan Boy seated next to Anna Wintour of Vogue US.

Furthermore PR also have included bloggers in their “media treat” activities, like free stay at a hotel rooms, discounts foods, cash vouchers and many other returns in hoping to get favorable posts in the bloggers blog. Joyce of Kinkybluefairy.net a Malaysian lifestyle blogger who often blog about her traveling experience, which mostly is sponsored (accommodations like hotels etc) so she could do a review on her stay.

Millions of blogs are out there on the net, PR have to recognize and identify those that are really capable of carrying the messages that they intended too well, so the PR efforts wont be a waste. “Blog Walking” (browsing through online from one blog to another) may help PR practitioner indentify these blogs or sites.

Written by Ashman Mahfudz, Final year student of Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons) (Public Relations) in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam. Writer also Blog fashion on his personal blog WalkTheBerry. 20^th September 2012.

p/s This post is mostly an insight story of what I have experienced as blogger my self and having few blogger-friends. I am sorry my insight is mostly in the fashion and lifestyle area as that is the area that I am more aware off.

Interviews cited were done through email.

Reference:
book:

Rodman, G. (2008). Mass Media In A Changing World. New York: Mc Graw Hill.

Journal Article :

Nakajima, S. , Tatemura, J. , Hino, Yoichiro. , Hara, Y. , Tanaka, K. (2005). Discovering Important Based on Analyzing Blog Threads.

Wright, D. K., & Hinson, D. M. (2008). How Blogs and Social Media are Changing Public Relations and the Way it is Practiced. Public Relations Journal Vol 2, No.2.

Newspaper Article:

Lau, K. (2012, May 25). Meet Tyra's protege: Fahion Blogger Bryan Boy Revealed to be the new America's Next Top Model Judge.  Daily Mail, Mail Online. Retrived from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2150007/Meet-Tyras-protege-Fashion-blogger-Bryanboy-revealed-new-Americas-Next-Top-Model-judge.html