Note: This post is adapted from my Manila Bulletin Blog-O-Rama column for April 27, 2009.

Because of the popularity of blogs these days, some companies are joining the blog mob or the blog bandwagon. There’s really nothing wrong with this. A corporate blog, after all, is another way to connect with your customers or market on another level. And a blog, if put up well, can project more warmth and candidness than a generic press releases would. It is an affordable, high-impact way to get your message across without the expense of multi-million campaigns.

On the other hand, a corporation or company should also ask itself if a blog fits their marketing goals. It is really not for everybody. Sometimes, it can make a firm vulnerable to unwanted “blog storms” or security lapses and make its stand on certain matters open to interpretation. That’s why I’d suggest that entities think long and think hard before starting a blog. Here are some suggested things to do:

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Gamer and blogger Carlo Ople stirred a hornet’s nest when he categorized different types of bloggers in his new blog. While his pronounced intention is to teach marketers and public relations companies on “How to Deal with New Media,” it seems Mr. Ople is now finding out the hard way about “How NOT to Write Derogatory Blog Posts about New Media.” The reaction from certain sectors who felt slighted by the use of the term “Patay Gutom Blogger” to refer to those who attend events because of the free food and freebies has been substantial that Mr. Ople was forced to take down the PGB term and apologize to those who he might have insulted.

Personally, I don’t believe in taking down what I blog about, even if it’s too easy to press DELETE in cyberspace. My conviction is to always stand by what I write. (and pataygutom.com is one blog food blog I like!) However, I don’t believe in labelling people myself, even though it’s quite tempting to categorize the numerous characters that populate the internetz. Blogging is called “citizen journalism” precisely because anyone can post his thoughts and materials in the great WWW without the stiff hierarchy and requirements of the media networks. Considering the diversity, we would certainly run out of terms to categorize people. But is that even necessary? Name-calling and criticizing is a human propensity but it should be kept by people within their groups, not in the open field where respect, decency and tolerance is called for.

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