Making The ‘Sense’ Out of Blogging

‘Free will’ – the concept can be interpreted in many ways and one of that is the freedom of expression. In the Internet age, Blogs are widely accepted and appreciated medium of expression. But beyond expression, do blogs also serve an educative or business purpose? Indeed, blogs have come past the initial tag of just an ‘online diary’ of writing enthusiasts sharing their views with the millions browsing the internet. For an organization, a blog can be platform, with a million possibilities.

Business Blogs: Business blogging is now a common trend. What better platform to educate your audience and share your achievements than a blog?

Within the organization, company blogs are often the place to share views, events or even the glory of achievements. Blogs can be informal enough to encourage participation, and bring about a sense of solidarity.

For advertising and marketing purposes too, blogging is an excellent platform.

• Sharing expertise, increasing visibility and wooing prospective customers – a business blog can do it all.
• It especially makes sense for smaller or newer organizations to blog actively – it is a pocket friendly yet high-reach medium
• Short and informal – the very format of blog entries invite more views, more than a regular company website.
• Links to similar blogs are almost a norm for any business blog. This is useful for viewers looking for information on topics featuring on the blog.
• Blogs can also be utilized to share industry news. Inviting views on topics of shared interest, not only gives an opportunity to gain more knowledge but at the same time, it is a window to different perspectives. This leads to greater knowledge of the industry and more business opportunities, as a result.

Some of the interesting corporate blogs that you may like to go through –

• Articulate’s – Rapid E-learning Blog
• Brandon Hall – Workplace Learning Today
• Adobe Blogs
• Google Blog
• Intel – Inside Scoop

Learning blogs: Blogs have proven to be a great platform for learning as well- for teachers or instructors as well as for the learners. To encourage learning within an organization, blogs have been a popular medium for many.

• For instructors, it can be a platform to raise questions and invite views. The blog can be a more comfortable place for many learners, where views can be pondered over before sharing.
• Different views or perspectives can sometimes conclude into the right answer. The learners and instructors alike can gain a lot from the diversity of opinions that a blog invites.
• Both for e-learning and traditional classroom learning, blogs have been a great medium to have the ‘after-class’ discussions. Subject matter experts, instructors and learners – can all participate.
• A blog can be a place for ‘growing knowledge’. A topic of discussion can grow from its conception to its conclusion, through various posts. Learners can look into this repository for pertinent information.
• Sharing links is also a popular phenomenon on learning blogs. This helps in attaining well-rounded information of any topic – beyond the scope or limit of only one particular blog.

Here are some of our favorite e-learning blogs (in no particular order) –

• Elliott Masie’s Learning Trends
• Harold Jarche
• Clive on Learning
• Manish Mohan – Learn & Lead
• Tony Karrer – eLearning Technology
• MinuteBio
• Craig Weiss – Elearning 24×7
• Clark Quinn – Learnlets

A social medium of expression, blogs encourage free-thinking. It makes us receptive of ideas, even if they differ from our own. It also gives us the confidence to voice our own views, even if they differ from the popular ones. Talking about your business or sharing your opinions – blogs make good sense!