Comments on: Closing the Blog, Opening the Conversation

By: enric

enric — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 14:06:21 +0000

I suggested that perhaps a diversity of *ideas* could be as or more important than a diversity of races or cultures, that perhaps Swat might consider Affirmative Action for conservative students.

By: Daniel Szuc

Daniel Szuc — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 12:04:43 +0000

We all get caught up with our own jargon. We also forget that people, outside of our industry, may not understand what we do. In some cases, I even steer clear of industry definition discussion (IA, usability, user experience, interaction design, UI design etc) and stick to “user friendly”. People get “user friendly”

Speak to our customers, test our concepts, words and reality check if it works.

By: Mary-Ann

Mary-Ann — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 17:04:07 +0000

I understand, and I had a similar experience yesterday.

However, if I have two minutes to make a pitch, I could easily spend most of that time explaining why my site is different from everyone else’s, or I could just say it’s a blog and get on to the more important things about my site (the content…). So that’s why I hope the terms becomes more widely understood.

By: Dan Hellerich

Dan Hellerich — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 17:54:22 +0000

Reminds me of recent chatter about 37signals’ Writeboard product: Is it a “just a wiki”? I say “Who cares”. It is a tool that can be developed and presented in a great way to customers.

As far as technologies to accompany your Brochure Site & eCommerce Site go, I’ve seen forums, blogs & wikis all used as great tech support tools. Who cares what it is, it’s all about what works best for how people use it.

Your internal terms/external goals lingo is very nice & something I needed to hear in such clarity. Thanks.

By: Andrew Feldstein

Andrew Feldstein — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 16:41:57 +0000

You are right, a blog is simply a tool. Sometimes we get so caught up in the bells and whistles of our shiny new toys that we lose sight of the big picture. People need to be reminded of this whenever another ‘panacea’ is created.

CRM is not customer relationship management. CRM, the technology, is a very effective tool without which ‘real time’ communication with customers would be all but impossible but, as with any tool, some are better at using it than others.

After I read you post I went scurrying to find an article I thought was appropriate to your excellent observation. In the Harvard Business Review back in March 2001, strategic management guru Michael Porter wrote an article called “Strategy and the Internet”.

Porter says, “The internet is transformational in some respects, but many traditional sources of competitive advantage remain intact.” His point is that you can’t forget the basics such as scale, personnel, product, and process.

In the conclusion of the article Porter observes, “In our quest to see how the Internet is different, we have failed to see how the Internet is the same….Only by integrating the Internet (Matt, you can substitute blogging or RSS) into overall strategy will this powerful new technology become an equally powerful force for competitive advantage.”

By: Matthew Oliphant

Matthew Oliphant — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 14:51:50 +0000

Thanks for the links to the study. I was searching all over and my brain just couldn’t quite find it. :) I think there was also one other, but that may have been to do with RSS…

By: Ben Askins

Ben Askins — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 14:19:27 +0000

Matthew, you so get software. It’s refreshing to hear.

Your user has a need, and the software sure as hell better satisfy that need. And I mean the “cold beer on a hot day” type of satisfaction.

End users don’t care if it’s a blog, if it’s Web 2.0, if it’s buzzword compliant, they just want their needs met, and if you don’t satisfy those needs they’ll leave you for someone who will.

Perhaps next time you’re family asks, you could tell them “I help make websites that give you what you want”.

By: Michael Moncur

Michael Moncur — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 08:50:11 +0000

Here’s the study you were thinking of:

http://www.catalystgroupdesign.com/cofactors/?p=111

I agree 100%. It continually amazes me that everyone “here” is convinced that Blogging Is The Next Big Thing, and everyone in the real world I talk to has their eyes glaze over when I start talking about it…

By: Constantin Basturea

Constantin Basturea — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 08:27:26 +0000

I guess the study you’re looking for is Net Rage: A Study of Blogs and Usability (PDF file), published by the Catalyst Group Design in July 2005.

By: Fiver Stone

Fiver Stone — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 06:12:08 +0000

Excellent post. Can’t tell you how often I’ve had those same responses. Blogs have been overhyped and hopefully we’ll soon settle into a good balance where the mainstream can get over the nerdiness stigma associated with blogging and enjoy some of the benefits of the conversation. Losing the “blog” moniker might just be the best thing that could happen. Just like RSS/Atom need to continue evolving into “web feeds” or something less techie, blogs could do with a little evolutionary naming help.