The Final Blog

I personally believe that blogging is a really useful tool for sharing ideas and can also become a successful marketing tool if manipulated correctly. When I first started writing blogs for this class, I initially thought that they were a waste of time because my assumption was that blogging was essentially an extended tweet. I don't know anyone who cares enough to subscribe to my blog just to read about my daily life and activities. However, once being introduced to the world of, I guess you could call them, professional bloggers, I realized that its basically a way to throw your opinion out on the internet and otherwise inform or become informed by audience feedback, and as I said previously, it can be successful as a marketing tool.


The only problem I can see with blogging, despite all their advantages, is expanding your audience. Simply getting people to read your blogs seems like a daunting task but one way bloggers seem do this is by their manipulation of rhetorical devices. For instance, the first blog we read in class sought to inform readers about an advancement in technology that could potentially allow us to create invisible soldiers. Unfortunately, it turns out we are far from being able to practically use this technology, but the blogger was able to inform, entertain, and draw in an audience. All it takes is a bit of talent and one can obtain subscribers in this way.


Talent is essential when trying to use blogging as a marketing tool as well. Unfortunately his account was suspended for reasons unknown to me, but my roommate is an affiliate marketer. To increase the amount of hits he got on his links, he did a lot of research, started a blog and wrote about electronic cigarettes verses real tobacco on a weekly basis. Eventually, as he proved to be an "expert" in the field by answering questions and continuing to throw his opinion out there, subscribers became more inclined to purchase the products that he was selling. This is just one way to use blogging as a marketing tool, but it is a very effective weapon if wielded correctly.


It might seem like I have a new-found respect for blogging, but it turns out that I was actually a fan of a few blogs before I knew what blogs really were. For instance, there's a site I am really fond of that just includes a series of hilarious rants about relevant topics. The author, George Ouzounian (pen name: Maddox), in one particular blog shares his feelings about vegetarians, PETA, a potential asteroid collision, and his naysayers all in a simple three-minute video. While Maddox isn't someone you'd site as a scholarly source in an English 367.04 paper, he does present his ideas in an entertaining and convincing fashion. His notoriety even inspired a comic book, which was presented by him at comic con San Diego, and a book that reached #1 on the Amazon.com sales chart. The success of his first book propelled him on to a few television sets and inspired a second book that was published in 2011. In the case of Maddox, blogging contributed to his career in two ways: both as a marketing tool and a way to share information. He marketed his ideas and his personality which acted as a springboard for his career. 


Based on my past experience in blogs, I can't say that they are an excellent source for hard facts or scholarly information, but what they can do is give the audience experience with different opinions and the angles. Being able to see how a blogger is trying to persuade and possibly manipulate their audience is a great tool for college students to learn. This knowledge enhances our abilities to sell ideas and question what others are selling us. It is needless to say, taking this class and working with blogs has changed my perspective on blogs in general.