WEEKLY COMMENT: Blogging - not all channels are paved with gold

Blogs are indeed the hot topic of this Spring; Google's steps into the arena, the spread of US blogs to Europe, and the growing success of UK blogs such as Guardian Unlimited's onlineblog.com are sparking a flurry of interest and a good deal of thought about how existing web companies might exploit the new phenomenon. This week's launch of 20six, a blogging platform aimed at the European market has set tongues wagging again.

However, the deja vu is too striking to ignore. Many are talking about how businesses must 'get into' blogging in much the same way as they should have 'got online' three years ago. Its obvious now of course that perhaps we should have thought of guaranteed revenue models before we all 'got online' back then. And it must be no less clear now that people should be thinking through more effectively just why they plan to build a blog.

For our own site, we had considered developing a blog in much the same image as that run by Guardian Unlimited's IT journalist team. It would have been our equivalent of diary pages, updated perhaps once a day with the 'news behind the news', general gossip and anecdotal tomfoolery. On coming to analyse things properly, however, there was a clear risk of undermining our news output. Why would anyone read the news in the first place if they could read the news behind it on the same site? And, if we could publish the 'news behind the news', why didn't we do it to start with - its far more interesting? Libel and journalistic standards is the reason - and standards can be no less high just because content is held in a 'blog'.

So, blogging for us, we said - though interesting and 'cutting edge' - held no tangible benefit. We assume that, after the fun and frolics of the past three years, other businesses are looking for the same thing before committing to the latest fad.

Who in that case will benefit from the rise of the blog? It is truly the 'CB radio' element of the web previously characterised by Yahoo! Groups sites and networks like Angelfire. It is more basic than a web page and more user-friendly and it gives an even greater opportunity for everybody to enjoy their 15Mbs of fame.

Companies like 20six are this year's spade-makers. Providing the tools to feed a trend, they look likely to benefit just so long as they can eke genuine sales from their users. But it will not be charging for basic services, instead hoping to upsell more premium add-ons, like the ability to blog through one's mobile phone. Its still unclear whether this is likely to work - and its revenue streams sound hauntingly woolly... "Right okay, so how will you make money again?" It talks of sharing agreements with mobile carriers, but the 'upsell' period is some months away since it first has to attract bloggers, then keep them, then persuade them of the value of its premium services. And relying on the mobile industry in any shape or form is a risky strategy at the best of times - especially since MMS is still not mainstream.

Still, like much of the internet, blogging should be enjoyed for what it is. It is one more reason to praise the web for its astounding ability to mix extreme value with utter uselessness and a timely reminder that not all channels are paved with gold.

29 May 2003:

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