Individuals and businesses alike have many options for creating either personal or brand presences on the web. Two of today's most popular options are Facebook and blogs. While the two formats, social networking and blogging, do have some overlap in functionality, there is a difference in how content is shared and represented on the web.
Blog, short for weblog, is a type or part of a website. Information is typically displayed in reverse chronological order and indexed using labels. There are blogs covering many diverse topics, some maintained by individuals (DemoNation) some by collectives focused around a single subject for example Ny.Eater.com (NYC food) or Gothamist.com (NYC events & news.)Blogs have been in existence since the late 1990's and some of the interactive features of blogs may have served as inspiration for social networking sites such as Friendster.com, MySpace.com, and Facebook.com. Blogs are typically public, but can be kept private for family or enterprise use. In January 2011 SocialMediaToday.com named the 10 best corporate blogs, highlighting Starbucks, Wegmans, and Marriott as some of the best in the field. All utilize blogging as a way to build a sense of community, while maintaining a portal to their customers at home, work, and on mobile devices. These blogs allow users to comment on posts, and interact with each other.
While Friendster and Myspace are the dinosaurs of social networking, Facebook remains the champion of the domain. Mark Zuckerberg conceived Facebook as a closed, online alternative to the Freshman "facebooks" or in college patois "meatbooks" that were ubiquitous on college campuses in the 1990's. If the printed facebook gave you the opportunity to get a visual image of your classmate, why not an online forum in which one could interact with new classmates. Facebook allows users to friend each other and to decide what level of interaction one wants to have with friends, the larger, network, or anyone who can use a google search.
The evolution of Facebook has seen the brand and the site take on many different meanings. To my Mother, Facebook is a way to keep up on the lives of her nieces, nephews, and her extended family. For my husband it is a means to keep in touch with former employees. For me, it provides a lively space to interact with friends and family from across the globe. It also is a way for some of my favorite brands, stores, and politicians to push content down to me. Sometimes that content is valuable (50% off at my favorite local boutique? Thanks!) other times it simply serves as a reminder of the entities web presence. Regardless, it is a means to communicate brand messaging to me, even if only for a split second, during an otherwise busy day. I may not have the opportunity to visit the Starbucks blog daily, but the brand's presence on Facebook is adept at informing me of the Frappucino happy hour, or free coffee day.
While the main advantage of Facebook is the interactive nature, blogs are still a viable presence and a meaningful contributor to life on the web. The archive and indexing features of blogs allow readers and google search to access information that may have been posted months or years ago. Blogs are especially useful in tandem with Facebook to build a brand on-line presence, whether it be corporate or personal. Personal blogs give individuals an opportunity to express their knowledge or opinions in a space that is self-published and has the ability to be monetized. A popular blog can generate an income stream.
A viable, strong on-line presence for either an individual or an enterprise should take advantage of what both and blogs have to offer. Leveraging the advantages of each medium establishes a powerful platform for interacting with others, as well as for sharing thoughts and ideas with the larger community.
