with all the “pre-campaign” mania going on, we tend to be overwhelmed.

filipinos, especially the youth voters, are encouraged to choose wisely.

kung ikaw ang presidente ng Pilipinas, ano ang gagawin mo?..

for those who care..
for those who wish to care..
and most especially, for those who still don’t care..

watch this video..
and hopefully, you do your part in sharing this..

thanks.

It’s the same as the ‘blog’ that we do. With a few thingamajis. :)

 1. The most passionate of them all

It is important to have someone, maybe the founder or CEO of the company, who would write, and will be willing to commit to write for the blog. Without the passion, there will be no human side on the blog. Find this person and the corporate blog will stay alive as long as this person is alive. :)

 2. Search Engine Optimization

Content is important – make it relevant. Search engines will be able to locate it easily and you might even rank higher in searches.

3. Blog often

 It is also the same as saying ‘update.’ (I know, right? ) Posts should not have information overload. Make them easy to understand and easy to subscribe. It would also be helpful if posts are entertaining but still informative. Just always be careful on what you post. :)

 4. Comment back

It’s a social media tool, ergo communication should be two-way. When people comment, you reply. This brings us back to all of corporate blogging’s objectives.

The topic that was assigned to us was Corporate Blogging. We first researched on the topic, but the information that we gathered still wasn’t enough so we interviewed two corporate bloggers. I rummaged through my old notes and luckily, I found my interview scribbles. Big thanks to the interviewees for giving us sufficient information for the miniseminar (and for this post! )

Brief History

Blog came from the words web and log – a web log is used to monitor the progress of a company’s internal project (as far as I can remember.) Then eventually, the term ‘blog’ was coined.

Technology prompted the existence of blogs. Before, organizations only used press releases to provide information. But the use of internet opportunities increased. Ten to 20 years ago, it used to be dial-up. Then, DSL emerged giving internet users faster and easier connection with a very low cost. This allowed people to reach more people. And one doesn’t even need to own his or her own PC since there’s always an internet café somewhere.

Status Quo: Inbound vs Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing refers to the use of traditional media in marketing like the use of mass media.

 Outbound marketing = You find your audience

Inbound marketing refers to the use of new social media like blogs, profiles and search engines.

Inbound marketing = They are finding you

Today, outbound marketing is considered to be just 10% and inbound marketing is 90%. 

What is Corporate Blogging?

Basically, it is a blog focused mainly on a company or business. (this is the simplest that I can give )

Its Objectives

A corporate blog aims to:

1. provide additional information

2. give an update about a new product/technology

3. venue to answer questions/comment on products or services

4. reach more people through online presence

5. feedback mechanism

6. build a good image

7. engage customers in a conversation

Types of Corporate Blogs

1. Internal blogs – “what’s going on”

- contain company events, announcements, updates, etc. which are not accessible to the public

2. External blogs – purpose is to inform an make an impression on the reader since it is open to the public

Other types*

1. CEO blog

2. Marketing blog

3. Engineering blog

*blogs that have specific targets

Advantages

Generally speaking, a blog is beneficial because it is easy to set up and more efficient. It is more efficient in a way that you give information that needs to be given out like promotions and marketing, and people can comment, plus other people can view these comments. It is search engine friendly so your company is accessible. Also, you get new customers online and even connect with other competitors.

But more importantly, corporate blogs create personal relationships and more one-to-one personal conversations with people, whether they are consumers or not. It makes conversation easier and it is like having direct communication with your company.

 The Catch

Since blogs are open to anyone who uses the internet, they are certain drawbacks to be considered. First, it can expose a lot of things, which might inadvertently reveal information about the company. Second, it sets up the company to questions/comments/interpretations – which can be linked (competitors, privacy issues, spam). Third, it is in danger of harassment by being hacked. And fourth, it raises legal issues because a company will always be held liable for what is posted in the blog.

Corporate Blogging in the Philippines

In the Philippines, corporate blogging has only been introduced for more or less three years ago. Many Filipino companies still do not fully understand and realize what blogging is and how helpful it can be to their businesses. There are existing blogs in the Philippines which are being used to sell products, but they are still pseudo-personal and pseudo-business blogs.

Edge over other social media

Corporate blogs are easier and to control and more manageable because you can choose what to post and what not to post, plus you can filter messages. Another is flexibility – you can add, delete and edit the content, so it stays updated. They also have their long term benefits because people will keep going back to your blogs.

*Credits to our Miniseminar in Corporate Blogging (OrCom142). This post will not be possible without it.

As far as I can remember, contributors on school papers always occupy half of the space of the staff box. And this creates an implication that there are a lot of students out there who can also write, who just need to be given the opportunity to be part of the staff. :)  This, I think is what I learned from The Contribution Revolution (TCR) – organizations need to create avenues for people to put in their wild, creative, out-of-the-box ideas. Because I know there is a huge pool of untapped resources outside the company who has a great potential in improving and transforming it. I would like to agree with (TCR) that “the creation of a community around an important topic promotes an engagement with the site” – that there is a need to have something interesting and worth discussing in order to create traffic in the site. I remember our topic last semester in Public Relations (Orcom 105), Customer Relations, where we included hate sites in our report. A hate site can be a community of customers who are dissatisfied with a product or service of a specific company and it is an effective venue for them to share their complaints or suggestions. And organizations who are mentioned in these hate sites should take advantage of them by giving the appropriate customer service to their customers.

The market is not targeted when we talk of contributors. So, it is up to the company to make its site engaging to people for them to contribute. Many internet users are generous enough to share their ideas.   Relating it to my previous post (see showBIS), user contribution can also be compared to the flow of communication in the grapevine. In informal communication, there is information present, which tends to excite people. And this information can flow very fast – a.k.a. employee engagement, not to mention its evolution and exaggeration. It can come from random individuals. You just get surprised when the contributors are the people you least expect to participate.

User contribution opens the organization to criticisms and areas for improvement. Contributions are highly regarded though they should not be considered as 100% precise. The effectiveness of these contributions can only be proven when they are already tested.  Like in Wikipedia, many professors would not consider it as a reliable source because it is open to a lot of errors since articles are written by amateurs. We can only verify information from Wikipedia if we also see it on other reliable sources.

With everything that i learned from TCR, there is one thing that really stuck on me. Many organizations should be thankful to contributors. For without them, they would still be trapped on their classical way of doing things. Not that it is bad. But we know that things change, so as  people’s preferences.  And with this, we should share information if we think it would be a good contribution to something. Who knows, the information that we share can be the key to something more useful.

I have faith.

Enough faith to believe that there is a Supreme Being there who is a pillar of strength to a lot of people. And I pray to Him.. every waking morning and before I hit the sheets at night. And each passing day, I become even more prayful.. for the very reason that my globe tattoo would work every time I try to connect to the internet in order for me to access my wordpress account and post something substantial and worth reading in my blog. Seriously, I’ve never been this faithful. From the moment I plug in the device, up to the second I click “connect”, up to the waiting part which is very agonizing.. and the torture doesn’t end there. More often than not, I am able to connect but I cannot browse. And from there, I continue to hold on to my faith. The next thing I know, it’s already 5am.

And i’m still praying..

 The BIS Model of Communication Evolution tells us how communication advanced from being one-way to two-way, until it became multidirectional. B stands for BROADCAST, I stands for INTERACTIVE, and S stands for SOCIAL MEDIA. This model of communication evolution would help us understand why and how certain communication styles work in a particular way and make us appreciate that change really is inevitable when it comes to communication.

Broadcast

 The first thing that would enter my mind is NEWS. In a news program, there is the headline, local news, foreign news, sports news, showbiz, and a special segment for anything under the sun. News is usually aired during primetime wherein many viewers are glued on their TV screens. It also has the widest reach of audience since the content is not targeted on a particular audience. And as viewers, we have our preference on which news program to watch – depending on how credible the source is. 

*showBIS: There is this one person who can be the ultimate source of juicy information (a.k.a. chismis). We believe anything this person would say (with matching “ows?” and “talaga? Di nga?”), and all his/her communication effort is PUSH. It just depends on the receivers of chismis if they will actively participate in spreading the news or just be passive about it.

Interactive

Divisoria. Baclaran. Ukay-ukay. Mall. Shopping. Haggling. I think many girls and young women are involved so much in the interactive model. We get to choose which brand of clothing/footwear, of what size, color and design, and even negotiate on the price. And it doesn’t just end in one stall. I myself have this habit of visiting all of the stalls ‘til I get to that item that would stand out (and more often than not, I would end up on the stall that I visited first.) You ask assistance from the salesladies, fit the items and sometimes end up not purchasing the item. Haha. Namagod lang. :)

 *showBIS: People aren’t just satisfied with just listening to chismis. In most cases, they participate in the “research process.” They want to get connected with other people who consume the same media that they consume. There is room for feedback. There is an avenue for contribution. Case in point: Gossip Girl series. :) It’s not just GG who’s the ultimate source of info. Students can send photos and comments to GG and she would be more than glad to spread the word.

Social Media

Talk about REAL time. Everything comes from all directions and it’s difficult to control. Everything is bendable – consumer and creator roles can interchange. And when I think of Social Media, I remember this restaurant that we tried. They have a variety of seafood to choose from, and customers get to decide which seafood to eat and how much, and how it would be cooked. You can give them your own recipe and they will cook it for you. Customers just have to wait until they serve the food. :)  It’s a resto wherein the menu is not dictated by the owner, but rather customers are more involved since their preference is highly valued.

*showBIS: Probably, one of the most controversial showbiz issues I’ve witnessed in quad media is the Hayden Kho sex videos scandal. From pirated DVDs being sold in bangketas to DVDs sold in Middle East, from newspaper headlines to TV interviews… It is LITERALLY everywhere. Thanks to media sensationalism, everyone has something to say with the issue. And since everything happens fast and in real time, Bluetooth made it possible for people to… you know what I mean.

As human beings and communicators, we play different roles in the communication process. We come from different cultures and we even cross different cultures. As to how our discussion ended during this meeting, Sir Barry emphasized that we should not just be satisfied by actively participating, but more importantly, we should be more concerned in co-creating. We have a lot to contribute. The possibilities are endless.

My friend introduced me to mIRC when we were in our freshman year. I must admit, I was amazed. Maybe because it was something new and it was not a part of my “intrapersonal” culture. It was in my junior year when finally, internet connection invaded our humble abode. It was a rainy afternoon when i heard that toot-toooot sound from that small device waiting for the message “you are now connected.” DSL was not yet popular during that time so a lot of us were “dial-up” dependents. From that day on, internet helped me stay connected with my friends. And so, internet and I became friends.

Fast forward to college. Internet really plays a vital role in our academic lives. Just imagine having a subject requiring you to create a blog account, post weekly insights and comment on your classmates’ posts. [bonus: a professor painstakingly checking your posts (ehem )] I don’t know why but I am really more of an internet user when I was in high school compared to now that I’m in college, considering that we get some of our required academic materials online. Perhaps because I didn’t have a 24/7 connection in our dorm and I’m too lazy to go to Pedro Gil to rent a computer unit.

A lot of my classmates have excellent internet connection in their homes, and I’m happy for them. Haha. Whenever they talk about this site, I just listen then ask when I’m already lost. I am contented just listening to their stories about Facebook, Twitter and Plurk since I don’t have accounts on these sites (fine, you can call me loser now). And when I talk of Friendster, the common reaction that I would get is “Laos na ang Friendster! That is so stone age!.” Sorry naman.

This is just a micro view on how people can react to new social media. I consider myself a part of the minority (though I don’t have data to support this yet) who are open to the opportunities the new social media can give, yet still a bit reluctant and halfhearted if they would embrace it. Indeed, internet is a very powerful tool. And many are very enthusiastic and excited to everything the internet can offer. After reading Wikinomics, I feel like it’s been ages since other countries started exploring and utilizing the potentials of new social media and our country has just started to have a grip on it.

Though Filipinos have only just begun in actively participating in a global scale, I believe we’ve been making a good impression. I think it is also because we were brought up by our culture to be proud of our race, to never lose the Pinoy touch in everything that we do, to prove to other nations that we are world class. And this will make us stand out.:)

 Fast forward to present time. After reading it, I must say it gave me good insights ( I hope they are). Here are some of Locke’s words and my own reflection on them.

 CONNECTION

“We long for more connection between what we do for a living and what we genuinely care about, for work that’s more than clock-watching drudgery.”

 What makes social networking sites very popular? From MySpace to Friendster, Multiply to Facebook, people were linked globally. At first, our contacts would include only of our closest friends. Soon we add our friends from work. Then we add our friends’ friends, and so on. We establish and maintain contacts through these connections. I don’t think we just add friends just for the sake of accumulating contacts so that people would think that we are sociable beings but rather connection strengthens relationships, not just on a personal level. These connections are vital most especially for public relations. Relationships do not just end when a transaction ends. The deeper relationships we have with our colleagues, the greater the support and assurance that we can get from them. And when we say connection, it can be slight or significant. It can be similar interests, company goals or what have you. The important thing is there is a connection, and we stay connected.  

 NOTICEABLE CHANGE

“The Net grew and prospered largely because it was ignored. It worked by different rules than the rules of business.”

 Who would have thought that the internet was then unnoticeable? People haven’t realized yet the purpose of it. Internet was there and only a few cared to pay attention. And since it is just on its own, it was able to feed itself and sustain its existence. I also assume that it worked with no rules so it was so free to propagate itself. And so it evolved and who knows where it is going.

 RESOURCES

“The Net was a powerful multiplier for intellectual capital.”

 Indeed, the Net was and still is an effective tool in breaking boundaries. Since we stay connected and we don’t really have much rules when it comes to the internet, we will never know its limit. The Net attracts people of the same interests and would share the same social niche. They form together and build connections for their advantage. Not only does it serve as magnet for people to link up, it is a powerful source of information.  Different individuals contribute information for everyone to use.  And people in this age are hungry for information. Combine all of these together will make a strong army of intellectual warriors

 COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER

“Without strong market objectives and connections, there is no viable focus for a company’s internet presence; without a strong intranet, market objectives and connections remain wishful thinking.”

The market and the internet should always complement each other. Yes it is possible that one may exist without the other. But with a very fast-paced world that we have right now, there is a huge market on the internet and it gets larger every second. Market research is an effective way to have strong market objectives and connections. Nowadays, companies invest on market research as a strategic tactic in increasing profit. And with market research, a company knows not only its standing but as well as the competitors’. In this case, a company would know what goals to set and which actions to take.

“…the Internet is a collection of unique individuals. I’m one of them.” 

The internet is a community. With all the connections, links, URLs, hackers, viruses, spams and websites, people of different brain composition are behind them. Some use their expertise for academic purposes, while some use it for illegal reasons. The internet is powerful because unique individuals join forces to conquer the modern age.

And I must admit, I am part of it. I think we all are.

I live in CWL dormitory, which is located in Ma. Orosa Street. It is a dormitory where there is no available internet connection, not even WiFi. For more than three years, I survived without having internet. Unlike my classmates who are online 24/7, when the clock strikes 10:30pm, no more internet for me.  It was okay then because I can rent a personal computer in Pedro Gil or in Taft Avenue to do paperworks or research. But with this OrCom major that I have this semester, I think I’ll be needing a plug-and-play device for internet connection.

My classmates won’t believe me whenever I tell them that I don’t regularly check my Friendster, Multiply or Y!Mail. But it is true. I am not that attached/dependent on the internet. Not yet.

When Sir Barry explained the requirements for OrCom 152 (Communication Trends and Styles), my initial reaction was.. uh-oh. It took me a few seconds to let the information sink in. It’s like having an Audio Visual Comm class with real OrCom application. Not that Sir Chong’s class didn’t require OrCom application. J But with this subject, we are REQUIRED to have a blog, to comment, and to make other online stuff related to OrCom. Exciting. Yes. Very. Whew.

This is probably the coolest major subject that I’ve had in my whole OrCom experience.

I think the major issue that many of us will have in this subject is the mandatory blogging. Based on the comments that I’ve read on Sir Barry’s page, a lot from us are first timers. I blog. But not in the most professional way. I started blogging when I was in third year high school. I blog about my personal life and it is still private then. Now, I can no longer recall my user name and password of my first blog account. Then I started publishing public blogs in college.  It has been a long time since I updated my blog. I have my draft posts which are not yet published. With the requirements that we have with this subject, I think my blogging skills will be brought back to life. It’s time for us to do some serious blogging, podcasting, commenting, etc.  Scary but thrilling!

Do I have to be techie-savvy now?

Today, is the death of Lupita. (Barrientos, 2009)

May you rest in peace.