Blogging Isn't Dead, It's Just Emigrated!

Apparently now it's all about micro-blogging. Thank Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook status's for all those often banal one line updates on how people are doing, what they're thinking and who they're hating most.

Lily Worth is attending THIS / EXISTS - October 28th Edition.
Benedict Hampenstein is an anagram of Bent Dice, or Decent Bi, whichever you prefer.
Gideon Baltrus splashed out on some fuckin' Ricicles.

140 characters of pure genius. Ive got nothing against micro-blogging, there are many advantageous and even innovative applications for it. Like your boss telling you to be in the office at 8.30am tomorrow for an impromptu but very important meeting. Brilliant, thanks a lot. Im not a Twitterererer but im an advocate for new media. However when a friend posted this article on my Facebook wall this afternoon i was compelled to react immediately.

Over the last 5 years blogging has been celebrated, ridiculed and most poignantly, feared. When everyone got over the cacophony-of-over-opinionated-amateurs argument, the public and mainstream media realised the potential of blogging and its place in the future of journalism. Then of course it was heralded as this perfect conduit for regularly updated information that can be accessed across the globe by anyone with the means, and all the oldschool elitists of broadcast journalism started quaking in their chinos, anxious they were going to be shunned aside by the fleet footed young web-savvy bloggers. Now, it seems we've gone almost full circle and there's this hyped up hysteria about the end of blogging. I hope this is far from the truth.

The original pioneer bloggers and tech geeks are indeed upset that they're clicky inner blogosphere has been hijacked by the likes of Perez Hilton, and i would be too. The intellects and creatives utilised this medium to great effect but it's the sexually ambiguous celeb stalkers that get all the fame and fortune. Cheated yes. But this and the rise of micro-blogging does not spell some apocalypse for the blogosphere. It is true that there is a significant lack of community in the once charming blogosphere and amatuer wit has been ousted for professional tautology and a Google search will rarely deliver more than a Wikipedia article and BBC News page but there's still quality content and shrewd perception floating around out there, somewhere. It's finding it that's the problem.

Paul Boutin's article from Wired is the catalyst for this debate and an astute piece of writing it is. Just a shame it's posted on the monolith of all digital media blogs.

SEO not CEO, Search Engine Optimization and Keyword Kingpins

Search engine optimization, social media marketing, whatever you want to call it this is a hot topic at the moment and as Web 2.0 continues to evolve, more and more press and publishing companies are outsourcing to small agencies to improve their presence on the internet. But should they be incorporating these skills in-house?

In Layman's terms search engine optimization is getting your website at the top of the Google rankings. This of course can be simply bought at a price with PPC, pay per click bidding for keywords. But there's also organic or natural search optimization where organisations can employ a number of different methods to increase traffic to their website. Primarily they should check that their site is recognised by the major search engines remembering that Google accounts for over 80% in the UK. Ensure that not only navigation from page to page works but also that all embedded video and moving image clips play and that any links aren't broken.

Keywords make up a large part of the process, so choose wisely. Popular keywords can improve your site visibility but relevance also remains important. Charlie Brooker recently commented on the contrived placing of controversial and celebrated words in titles and subtitles of online content. Which raises the issue of journalists and editors compromising their content to best perform on the web. Although this isn't as much of a problem as some worry warts would have you believe, the important point is the expansion of skills now necessary for all journalists wanting to have a shot at airing a story. Print and online content writing are significantly different styles. Familiarity with the blogosphere, social media sites such as Delicious and general developments in online media are all essential. Without knowledge and practical experience in these areas journalists will struggle to find work.

It's true Google is largely responsible for this shift in the industry, but it was laser set in stone as soon as the internet became a mainstream source of information for much of the public. Plus it's Google who provide the applications to review website's traffic with Analytics and the performance of keywords and adverts with AdWords. It is a complete combination of creativity and data interpretation. The most adept team will have skills and knowledge across the broadband board and will not only keep abreast of advancements but set the trends themselves.

Crowd powered cloud computing sounds pretty dreamy

Out with the old and in with the new. That's the general consensus concerning media technologies at the moment. Television has gone digital, although it's going to take some time until it's fully felt. Fear and hysteria surround the future of Newspapers as content migrates online and becomes completely free. Why pay 80p? Well, I'd like to think of myself as rather traditional but the truth is it's easier on the eyes to read text on paper rather than on screen. The unnatural glow grates and constantly reminds you that you're staring at the face of a computer, so you can never completely lose yourself in the writing. Plus i try and persuade myself that i actually enjoy battling with unnecessarily big pages crammed heavy with useful information that absorbs my tea as the corners flap and dip unpredictably.

Still there is a lot to be said for the broadsheet and they certainly won't die out over night. On the contrary, they'll fight down to the last letter and more respect to them. Until we have e-paper like that in Christian Volckman's Renaissance the newspaper will have its place on our stands. Most have realised the necessity to be web-savvy and the Guardian for example, is the most trafficked newspaper website in the UK. And rightly so, there's more information contained in those cyper-pages than you could shake a Wii stick at. Jay Rayner had an excellent double page spread entitled "Is it curtains for critics?" Here he reviewed the issue of bloggers vs critics. The blogger, previously dismissed for their uninformed over opinionated ramblings, are now ousting the critics from their professional pedestals as we have seen many top journalists in the US losing their jobs. Now there will always be a need for expert knowledge, gained through years of education and experience but this present situation demonstrates how we are glamourising amateurish free content. Just take the colossal rise of Wikipedia for example. We are less interested in the wise words of a seasoned professional and keener to feast our eyes on the flippant views a snotty nosed student typing away feverishly in his halls of residence. Im all for the empowerment of the user but there will be no fickle substitute for investigative journalism. The internet is a tool and exhibition space that the old monoliths of the broadsheet industry must quickly become accustomed to or they face extinction as young guns spring from their ashes wielding blogs, broadband and a whole host of other digital advantages. Adapt or survive is the message for the elites that have been comfortable on their long established bourgeois thrown, never before challenged by the proles. Until now, the proles and prosumers with their new media technologies are nimble footed and swift minded, uploading their ideas online before the ancients have had a chance to proofread. Cloud computing, crowd powered media and other such technical jargon will have to be rapidly understood by the veterans before they're eating the rookies pixels.