Should We Say Goodbye to the Old Blogging?

"Say goodbye to the old IT," I was told in the Data Center News Digest. (No techie I, I nevertheless follow my own advice by "reading around" in fields related to blog content writing.)

Data Center was explaining that information technology has not only gotten faster and better, it's gone from being the underpinning for business operations to be a driver of business success.

That article got me wondering whether blog writing for business isn't going through a similar metamorphosis.  Yes, online content creation involves being at the ready with information on topics typed into search bars.  But now, I believe, it will be important to explain to business owners, professionals, and freelance blog writers that blogs now need to go beyond being information "underpinnings" to being thought "drivers".

What forms will the New Blogging take?

• Blogs will have a strong, "opinionated" voice: Whether it's business-to-business blog writing or business-to-consumer blog writing, the blog content itself needs to use opinion to clarify what differentiates that business, that professional practice, or that organization from its peers.  In other words, blog posts will go far beyond Wikipedia-page-information-dispensing to offering the business owner's (or the professional's, or the organization execuritve's) unique perspective on issues related top the search topic.
   
• Blogs will survey alternative views related to their topics: There will always be controversy – about best business practices, about the best approach to providing professional services, about acceptable levels of risk, even about business-related ethical choices. Rather than ignoring the controversy, bloggers need to comment on the different views and "weigh in".  New Blogging will consider controversy a tool for thought leadership.

It's still going to be true that, if readers have arrived at your business blog, it's because they already have an interest in your topic – they've already "drunk the Kool-Aid" and are ready to receive the information, the services, and the products you have to offer.  And, it's still going to be up to you to assure those visitors, through the words and pictures in your business blog content, that they've been steered to the appropriate site.

The style of blog writing won't change – blogs will still be best served up in an informal and personal tone, focused on just one aspect of a business, product, or practice.  But, as online readers become more sophisticated, used to vast quantities of information being available to them on every topic imaginable, they are starting to need more from us.  That "more", I imagine, will be measured not in quantity, but in depth!