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Blogging is like standing around the water cooler

Blogging can be (is) counter productive. I've noticed that the new "water cooler" are many of the thousands of new blogs that are on the internet each day. Do not misunderstand there are some really fantastic writing on the blogs.They are providing a real service to clients and to the public. The information age is upon us. The bloggers are a part of supplying this information at an ever increasing rate. water cooler patrons

The sad thing is that many of these blogs are really a very social place, a journal or log , hence weblog, of an individuals daily experiences. I am not familiar with all of the blogging systems there are but maybe we need to read the tags first. They may be a better indication of what a blog is about instead of the title. Maybe we should call a real estate blog a prolog or R.E.gister instead of a blog.

The water cooler at work has long been touted as a place where rumor, gossip, complaints about the market, the clients, the management, the weather have been spread. It has long been thought to be a viral, in the negative sense location in the office. A waste of resources and a breeding ground for discontent. Blogs are the new water cooler, the web is the new office.

Blogs are viral marketing. The long tail of the blog is helping with SEO and allowing many savvy agents to get more business from the web. The web 2.0 is going through growing pains. In web 1.0 we had to combat adware, viruses, and spam. The new 2.0 will have a glitch or two as well. Use facebook, youtube, myspace for your social networking. The "prolog" oe "r.e.gister" should be used to network in your professional life.

Posted by Randy Lyon on 08/22/2007 10:14 AM

Comments (13)

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13 Comments on Blogging is like standing around the water cooler

AUG

2007

Randy- I think you are right. You can view blogs as the new water cooler. I know I find it very easy to get sucked into AR for hours even though I only allotted 1 hour. There is so much to to absorb.

Blogging can be good or bad...depends on how you use it. It will sort of take on a life of its own...if people use it as in your water cooler analogy, then the "professional" side of it might rise up somewhere else. Good idea for an entrepreneur ;-)

It can get a little addictive. But as addictions go, this one is interesting, I'm learning a lot and it does not kill off brain cells!

We could be growing a generation of Blogoholics. Do they have a 12 step program for that?

Well most blogs were just that, on-line journals. I have to admit that i haven't scratched the surface of blogging yet and writing that great post here. There are some here that post only about their business, others share tips and information, some give comic relief. I for one understand the importance of the water-cooler. It's important to stay in the loop w/o feeding into the garbage.

Reading the blogs here have helped me crystalize goals and activities. That alone is worth the time I spend around the water cooler.

It is too bad that some bloggers use this platform for complaining, in which case it does seem like a water cooler. I don't believe complaining or gossiping ever should have a place in blogging for business purposes. If we all keep it uplifting and informative, then maybe it will seem less like a water cooler.

Depends on the blog.

AR is like a conversation about real estate related matters.

My personal blogs are all Google juice.

Funny how everyone blogs for different reasons. I like to blog to ask for advice. I get a lot of great comments. thanks!

Randy, thanks for your insights here. Have never been much of water cooler oriented person, but very much get your point. We probably spend too much time here and on our other blog, but in this market at this time, we sense it's very much a constructive building kind of thing to be doing.

Also want to thank you for commenting on something we just did. it was most appreciated.

AUG

2007

K...so I may be the only one but I have never heard of "prolog" or "r.e.gister" Can anyone tell me what this is?

Some blogs fall into the category of water cooler blogs.

I skip reading those as they don't add much to the community. I also never was one to hang around with "water cooler people"

Blogging is most effective when aimed at the consumers, or when sharing valuable information and tips & advice for other Realtors.

I have never thought of it this way but you are absolutely right! It is the new watercooler and it is addicting. There is so much information - some great, some not so great - but information nonetheless and I find that I can't get enough.

AUG

2007

I do admit I write some blogs that are very negative, but I try to give direction to those who I write about. I am not afraid to e-mail these blogs to the people I write about. I have gotten many e-mails from the upper management in the bank I recently blogged about. I e-mail the banker himself and he sent it on to senior management. It didn't change the outcome, but they were very concerned about what I was writing. (As they should be)

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