Money, Money, Money

Hi all,

I am close to finishing my analysis on blogs. But before I write my conclusion, I think it is necessary to further compare how blogs have changed from their creation in 1997 to the present...

Blogs have become increasingly popular for corporations in advertising and marketing products. Brands such as Sprite, Nike and Adidas have all succumbed to the power of the blog and the enormous following they have.

An example such as Tila Tequila’s recent rise to fame was due to the fact that she had over 40,000 friends on MySpace. For advertisers, this was a goldmine, as a simple banner on her blog would potentially mean that 40,000 people would see their product or service. This indicates how the idea and practical use of a blog has evolved, as companies are now looking to use people who have a large following to disseminate products and merchandise. Even though these companies are not actually creating a blog, they are using the blog medium to target potential customers. Due to the fact that MySpace has 27 million users, the majority of them being 20 years of age or younger, and rivals the number of pages viewed monthly for Google, News Corp bought the company for $850 million (Kim, 2006).

Not only are blogs used to share ideas, to write about how one is feeling or whether or not they agree with something, they are also being used to generate revenue. Some may say this is just another area where greedy corporations are trying to get their hands on as much money as they possibly can. I personally don't think it matters too much and actually think it isn't a bad idea, as long as advertisers don't go overboard.