Media&Marketing: Once dismissed by the mainstream media as strictly for geeks, the growth of blogs across the world can no longer be ignored by mainstream newspapers and television stations.
When it was only American techies in Silicon Valley who used blogs, the rest of the world could afford to ignore the phenomenon, but now the Chinese are also having a major impact on the blogosphere, pushing up the participation rates further and posing a direct threat to what one might call "traditional media".
In case you don't know, a blog or web log is a website that contains dated entries in reverse chronological order (most recent first) about a particular topic. Functioning as an online journal, blogs can be written by one person or a group of contributors.
Often described as a fluid, dynamic medium, more akin to a conversation than a library, blogs are regarded by traditional media with suspicion as to their accuracy and objectivity.
But despite this their popularity is growing and the complexity of blog sites is increasing. Most blogs are now accompanied by links to other sites, images and may include a search facility. Some also contain advertisements, although blog purists are strongly opposed to commercialising their sites.
Just how big this so-called blogosphere has become was illustrated this week when new figures were released by Technorati, a real-time search engine that keeps track of what is going on in the blogosphere. It claims there are 19.6 million blogs around the world, with the number of blogs doubling every five months. Or as it puts it: "The blogosphere is now over 30 times as big as it was three years ago".
What's most striking is the international dimension. The survey says: "It appears that blogging is taking off around the world, and not just in English. Some of the significant increases we've seen over the past three months have been due to a proliferation of Chinese-speaking weblogs, on Chinese sites like blogcn.com".
With this kind of explosive growth, one might form the impression that all online political and economic information/opinion now comes to us via an array of blogs controlled by anonymous individuals sitting alone in their rooms.
Not so. The mainstream media is staying the course. For example the most popular news and information website remains the New York Times, followed by the Washington Post, Yahoo News and the BBC. In fact the seven most popular news and information websites remain in the hands of so-called mainstream media providers - although some might quibble with the idea that Yahoo and Wired News are mainstream media.
Its also important to remember that the New York Times also requires registration for much of its content, whereas most of the blogs are accessible upfront. One would think this would put the New York Times at a disadvantage in numbers terms, but that does not appear to be the case.
Some traditional media, instead of ignoring the challenge, are meeting it halfway. For example the French paper Le Monde, offers its readers various blogs and also encourages its journalists to have their own blogs. This kind of relationship could become very common in the future
'Sunday Times' drops green jersey
One wonders sometimes about the choice of material in the Sunday Times, Irish edition. The paper has performed strongly over recent years North and South, but further circulation gains may prove difficult against the current market leader, the Sunday Independent.
In that context the editors of the Irish edition must have thrown their hands in the air last week when their colleagues in the London office included a piece in the sports supplement by former BBC producer and journalist Rod Liddle. The piece entitled: "Why does the World Cup make us all Irish?" was certainly provocative, but it might not have done too much to boost the paper's credentials as a genuine Irish product.
While Irish editions of the Sun and Mirror try to flaunt their support for the boys in green on their sports pages, the Sunday Times has found the going a little tougher. The Liddle piece from last Sunday, in the Irish edition, illustrated the problem of having divided loyalties within its sports pages.
Liddle said he was glad Ireland has not qualified for the World Cup so everyone could be spared the sight of: "Kenny Cunningham hacking chunks of flesh off anybody within 50 metres". As for the team itself, Liddle was not found wanting there either. "The Republic's team has all the skill, guile and subtlety of Blackburn Rovers on a bad day ".
If that wasn't enough to give the circulation department of the Sunday Times Dublin office a heart attack, Liddle threw in another paragraph asking why does anyone like the Irish, is it all because of "cheerful too-rye-eye fiddle-based jigs and love of something they refer to as the 'craic'?" Based on this don't expect Liddle to be writing for the Irish edition too often in future. Then again Liddle is a self-confessed Millwall fan, which has the famous slogan: "Nobody likes us, and we don't care".
Challenges for ad business
The Institute of Advertising Practitioners of Ireland (IAPI), which effectively represents the advertising business in this country, is holding its inaugural advertising works forum at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, on Thursday, November 10th.
The conference will mark the first time that advertising agencies, clients and the media industry here in Ireland have gathered collectively to review the key challenges facing the 1 billion plus Irish advertising industry. The theme of the day will focus on the effectiveness of advertising.
According to IAPI resident, Brian Hayes the conference couldn't come at more appropriate time. "At a time when agencies and clients face challenges from a variety of competitive forces, it is more important than ever that we demonstrate how insightful and creative advertising brings benefits".
Among the list of speakers will be Matthew Bull, chief creative officer at Lowe Worldwide who has been critical of Irish advertising for its lack of creativity in the past.
Emmet Oliver can be contacted at: eoliver@irish-times.ie
