I have to confess: despite my passionate believe that blogs can potentially be a source of misinformation, I do subscribe to one- Diana Kimball: regular expressions http://www.dianakimball.com. In this post I will try to evaluate her blog and Diana herself as a leader.
Why I subscribe?
I found Diana’s blog completely by accident as I was searching for GMAT preparation software. In this blog, that was skillfully written and visually appealing, I found interesting thoughts on the concept of GMAT and other standardized tests. Diana’s blog appealed to me because, unlike many other blogs of potential b-school applicants, it emphasizes the experience of studying for and taking GMAT, not the numerical result. I found it well structured, clearly written, and very engaging.
New Age Leadership?
In the blog itself, I found out that an outside agency that provides GMAT tutoring services has contacted Diana and asked to use the services and write about them in her blog. What is it, if not a recognition of leadership? The company believes that if Diana says the services are good, people will follow.
One of the interesting things about new technology (including blogs) is that they permit leaders to emerge. You don't need to know anyone. You don't have to work your parents' connections. You don't need to have a fancy Ivy League degree. All you need is persistence -- and intelligence, and a way with words. Perhaps cream really does rise to the top...
ReplyDeleteI agree, but only partly.
ReplyDeleteYou do not need fancy degrees and connections (although there are parties/ conferences for bloggers to make connections). I think solid education is important to be an effective blogger (not to confuse with popular blogger- in this case you just need to write about celebrities or controversial events of the moment; effectiveness is measured not by the quantity of hits, but the quality of thoughts)
In this case, Diana does have a degree from Harvard and, from what I understood, blogged a lot for academic purposes.
I think one of the key qualities for an effective and popular blog is trust. Sure, a blog can get lots of hits by being sensational, but the blogs that stick around year after year have a dedicated readership that trusts the author. They trust them to provide the latest news on their topic(s), they trust them to have done their research or be honest when they haven't, they trust them to be a dependable source of something week in week out.
ReplyDeleteHow do bloggers build this trust, though?
Bloggers have attain a certain level of respect that some might say is undue. While this may be so, we have to realize that some bloggers are in fact expert in the field which they blog about. They are not some randos who all of a sudden decide to blog about a certain theme. Which makes sense because blogging takes time and effort. To blog about sometime, one not only has to know what they are talking about, but care about it. Just the care to blog about some fact is, though not always, a sign that one knows rather extensively about a topic.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, I am not surprise that Kimabll has receive some name recognition and some reverence from her followers. And subsequently makes some money off her blog.
I find that there exists a potentially harmful relationship between certain leaders and misinformation. You mention that it is Diana’s presentation, execution, and thought process that are appealing. GMAT tutoring services have recognized Diana’s effective leadership traits, as well as audiences’ positive reaction to her blog. What is ironic about this entire situation is that Diana could hypothetically misrepresent or completely misunderstand a facet of GMAT, but due to her powerful and influential prose, the larger audience and even GMAT tutoring services, might accept certain misinformation to be true. I believe that is a danger that readers of blog and Americans in general should be wary of when trusting the written or spoken word of a leader.
ReplyDeleteTo exploringmedia:
ReplyDeleteI think ideally readership should be built on trust. Unfortunately, it is not always true in reality.
I'll give you an example of one of the most popular blogs, Perez Hilton (http://perezhilton.com), where people read celebrity gossips and sarcastic comments about them.
Not everything there is true. Moreover, judging from the content, it is not even relevant whether it is true. It's engaging. It's fun. Result: estimated 8,5 million unique (!) visitors a month (source: http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/blogs).
I was never really familiar with blogs until I went abroad, and I dont normally visit them, but i can imagine blogs would be a potential source of information. However, when i think of blogs I think of Subjective Information. The ultimate question is whether I will agree with the writer or not. I got this impression even in my own writing of the blog, because it reflects my personal interpretations of certain observations.
ReplyDeleteI see individual blogs as opinionated sources-- I do not need to trust their 'knowledge' or 'wisdom' completely, but they could be giving me a good clue about what I want to know. Sometimes, when the official newspaper are restricted such as my country's, different leaders' blog from Malaysia is the best way for me to understand the current politics. When the ex-prime minister, the ex-minister, and a royalty who 'seem' to know more than the officials started to blog about their inside news, I know that even the powerful people uses blog to channel their voice to the citizens because blogging tools are so manageable and its readership is uncensored.
ReplyDeleteNot all blogs claim to be sources of "information". I started a blog two years ago at a time when I needed a voice. I needed a space to vent my most personal considerations and writing was my means of catharsis. People discovered my blog, and I also discovered those of other opinionated and liberal-minded Jamaicans. I never suggested that what I write was objective truth (if that even exists), and at the same time I am not able to control how others interpret my work. I find blogs extremely useful. But, I don't go to blogs searching for facts, or expert analysis- I go looking for stories, experiences that I can relate to, and I think that is one of the very important uses of blogs that you are not factoring into your analysis.
ReplyDeleteIf we are just considering blogs written by "experts" in a particular field though, why would anyone limit themselves to the opinions of one writer when blogs with similar information are so accessible. It might help to consider more than one sources when trying to find answers. This works in academia, and I can't think of a better way to do research using blogs and other internet media platforms.