Only two media in Spanish-speaking countries offer RSS: the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and the Argentine newspaper ClarÃn. Although blogs ar...
Only two media in Spanish-speaking countries offer RSS: the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and the Argentine newspaper ClarÃn. Although blogs are becoming more visible in the media and are becoming a topic of research, they are still something of small groups of evangelists who promote their use. But this can change in a short time. To face this great challenge, Spanish-speaking public relations professionals have to identify the enormous opportunities that other colleagues, primarily those whose native language is English, use for their clients, their businesses and even for themselves.
Perhaps it would be easier for Anglo-Saxons, with a different culture, to accept that in order to enter the blogosphere they must detach themselves from the pedestal in which they believe leaders should be placed, and be closer to thousands of people in a direct situation. I walk without obstacles. It is hard for me to believe that a politician, a high-ranking official or an executive in Mexico, Spain, Peru or Argentina would agree to write a blog. In addition, with the exception of some industries (i.e. IT), the use of blogs to maintain direct communication with their audiences is still limited to political parties, governments and even successful companies. In recent years, there has been a breakthrough, in which leaders have taken into account the advantages of having a website and have included it in their communication campaign. However, for some industries in Spanish-speaking countries, the Internet is still a foreign tool, difficult and expensive, and so they ignore its use to communicate with their audiences. The blogosphere offers the exact opposite of this: it is a communication tool close to people, easy to use and with such a low price that, with so many resources available on the Internet, it can be practically free. It’s easy to say that blogs could become a & # 147; democratizing & # 148; element with real possibilities of changing the traditional relationship between sources and media with the public. Blogs will make & # 147; Participatory journalism & # 148;, through which it will be possible to connect the problems of real people with other people with the same difficulties and concerns. The possibilities are endless in societies that are accustomed to the lack of transparency in government activities and large companies, and even in media that lack credibility. In fact, what is already happening in many Spanish-speaking countries, as in the Anglo-Saxon world, is an explosion of blogs that offer alternative information to traditional media. Thousands of blogs seem to reflect, qualify and denounce, not only government actions or political parties, but also products, services or even plans that many companies are carrying out. In addition, it is possible that blogs can be seen as the real possibility that small and medium-sized businesses access the Internet, without the need to provide a large amount of resources or having to rely on IT people who do not. necessarily understand the business or communication strategies. Perhaps here is the crux of the matter. These reasons make me think that there are many possibilities for the public relations industry in Spanish-speaking countries to explore blogs. It is possible that very soon the blogs in Spanish reach the same importance that other blogs are gaining gradually but firmly, in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada or Australia. At this time, I do not believe that really independent blogs, that is, those that are not part of important communication groups or that are not written by professional journalists who update their blogs in parallel to their main activity, may be accredited. as the main means of communication in important events such as political campaigns, as is already happening in the USA. UU. and soon in the United Kingdom. The public relations industry in Spanish-speaking countries must be prepared to obtain the maximum benefit from this phenomenon. How? I will address this through some proposed action plans. * Identify blogs that have a good level of visits and organize them into categories: technology, politics, media, etc. There are some directories that do this as Bitácoras.net [http://bitacoras.net/], Blogdir.com [http://www.blogdir.com], Blogsmexico.com, Blogalia.com, to name a few. We should be open to see all kinds of blogs, considering that there will be times when we will not share the authors & # 146; points of view, but it is important that we take them into account. Take the case of videogame web pages. There are times when children with just 12 years become true opinion leaders, capable of destroying the launch of a new game in which thousands or even millions of euros were invested. * Enter the blogosphere with the objective of understanding the new medium, its tools, its possibilities and limitations, as well as the best known authors, even if they are not Spanish speakers. It may seem obvious, but there are many people who have never heard about RSS, feeds, publications, blogs, syndicated content, links or anything in this regard.
A public relations consultant cannot suggest that his clients start a blog without having previously informed the client about what it takes to succeed and, above all, he or she cannot afford not to know an answer to a problem that It can be presented in the blogosphere. * Before launching a corporate or institutional blog, one must have a clear strategy of what one expects to communicate and must understand that the blogosphere has its own network tag, that is, its own codes, which have implications regarding the update, the sources of information, the form, the tone of the communication & # 133; and, of course, public comments. We can find that a good idea can produce mediocre results if inappropriate tactics are chosen. In this sense, a blog is one more tool among the many available for public relations. And yes, it offers some unique possibilities that others do not have. * Make the blog relevant, but keep in mind that it is a blog. There are people who still think that blogs are newspapers for teenagers, partly because it is true. However, this is not a bad thing, since this shows how flexible blogs are. Therefore, when launching a blog, one must find a balance between the characteristics of the blogosphere with the objectives of the organization. One cannot do is create irrelevant posts or wait too long to update the blog. If a company does not have the ability to maintain continuous communication with its audience, whether for strategic reasons or other legal limitations, a website may be better for its purposes. * Please note that the results may not be immediate. It is one of the main challenges for all public relations professionals that must face, not only with blogs, but also with any other tool. Perhaps in the case of blogs the challenge is greater due to the novelty of the medium and, in the case of some Latin American countries, due to the low Internet penetration. * Be & # 147; blog evangelists & # 148;. One must know not only the blogosphere, one must be part of it. This is the only way a consultant will be able to offer his clients adequate consulting. It is not about being a guru with thousands of visits a day, but it is necessary to feel comfortable with the blogosphere and know who is who. The only way to persuade someone is to convince yourself of what is preached. The best business card of a consultant who uses the advantages of a blog for an organization must include, in addition to his email, his blog address. There will be many things to do, but this could be a good start for the Spanish-speaking public relations industry, which has yet to view blogs as a tool with great potential. We must wait to see if the ‘blog phenomenon’ that is occurring in several countries will be extended to the rest of the world. The low internet penetration in Latin American countries, an incipient culture of IT use and a different way of understanding social relations, will be the main obstacles that will determine if this phenomenon spreads as it has in Anglo-Saxon countries, or perhaps it is possible that a different movement will emerge with local peculiarities that have not yet been exploited. We will wait and see & # 133; And we better be prepared.
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