Why aren't we blogging?

In the Feb. 22 article “Study: 72 percent of PR pros don’t monitor blogosphere” in PR Tactics and The Strategist Online, a survey found that 72 percent of PR professionals do not have a formal system for monitoring the blogosphere. The study found that 18.5 percent of PR pros say they work for an organization that uses their own blogs to facilitate communication with key stakeholders. Those who use blogs use them to connect with customers and end users, reach news media and communicate with employees.

I think there are several reasons why organizations are not involved in the blogsphere.

Reason #1: Lack of control- I once asked one of my former employers why she did not have a blog for her organization. Her only explanation was because she couldn’t control it. She didn’t want people to post negative information about her organization and thought it would be unethical to remove negative information that she did not like.

Reason #2: Seemingly unnecessary- Because there are still viable ways to communicate with key stakeholders, employees and customers, some organizations don’t want to dedicate the time to createand monitor blogs. They would rather use something that they have more control over such as Web sites and e-mail.

Reason #3: Lack of participation- There is still this view that only a small number of people actually spend time blogging. I can’t speak for everyone, but if my organization had a blog, I would steer clear of it because I know it is being monitored. No one really feels comfortable on informal discussion boards at work and participation would be low, in effect, defeating its purpose.

Reason #4: Too many blogs- There are millions of blogs in the blogosphere. It is really difficult and time consuming to monitor the blogosphere for negative comments or miscommunication about one’s organization. And out of those millions, only a few have constructive criticisms. PR professionals in certain fields and areas are still pondering whether or not the blogosphere is influential enough to warrant dedicating time and resources to monitor and participate in blogging.