Blogademia

Here are two Quotes to chew on:

1. "Blogs are the latest forum for people who have nothing to say that others actually care about," states Wharton marketing professor Xavier Dreze. The mode of a distribution, explains Dreze, "is its highest point. What this means is that there are more blogs with 0 subscriptions than blogs with one subscription or two or three or four. There is a reason why the modal number of subscriptions to a blog is 0."

"I don't see the point. It's a bunch of people writing their opinions, and those people have no credibility. The information content is very low." Established media outlets, such as newspapers and magazines, have standards and fact checkers to help guarantee accuracy, he notes, but "anybody can print a blog and say, 'Hey, I'm an expert. Let me tell you about this."
~To Blog or Not to Blog: Report from the Front (I recommend reading the entire study)

2. "Blogs are getting embraced because they are real (at least the good ones are).  Often times, the authors of industry blogs are active practitioners and blog out of passion for what they do.  Blogs are gradually establishing credibility one post at a time.  These days, it’s almost as common for someone to reference a blog source as it is an established resource such as Forrester."
~Me, from Blog's Eye View presentation

Notice anything about the two excerpts?  They fundamentally contradict each other at the core.  Now to be fair, the report also included Wharton academics who actively include blogs in their lifestyle.

But here is where it gets interesting.  Know what the good professor Xavier's title is?

Xavier Drèze
Assistant Professor of Marketing

He's a professor of Marketing in one of the worlds most respected Business Schools and he does not see the value of blogs.  I have to wonder—what blogs has he been reading?  Am I supposed to take his word as an academic when there are successful marketing professionals out there with informative blogs such as Eric Kintz from HP,  Steve Rubel from Edelman, David Churbuck from Lenevo and Pete Blackshaw from Nielson Buzz Metrics?  Am I supposed to believe someone from the lecture room vs. someone from the board room—and who even says value needs to come from either?

Xavier is certainly entitled to his opinion.  And there is of course a lot of trash out there in general—not limited to blogs.  But I have to say, this reinforces the stereotype that places of academia can become insulated.  Get out there people!  Go out in the real world and see things from different perspectives.  Lots of professionals are out there blogging.  People who PRACTICE what they do for a living.  If we can't learn from them—who can we learn from?

Comments

[Nedra Weinreich]

I think the professor's been spending a little too much time on Facebook.

[Mark McGuinness]

Why oh why oh why do the blog naysayers keep criticising blogs according to the criteria for 'established media channels, such as newspapers and magazines'?

Whether or not they can beat the 'traditional media' at their own game isn't the point - surely its obvious that blogs are playing a DIFFERENT game?

Outraged of London.

[Scott Weisbrod]

Xavier's perspective underscores how important that our influence ripples need go beyond the web and into the physical classroom.

Have you considered taking blog's eye view into a local business/marketing school's classroom?

[Scott]

Assistant professor, please. "Those who can't do..."

[CK]

Thanks for spotting this excellent report. I'm not at all surprised by the polarity. You see, academia is as different from the 'sphere as one can get.

The way we organize thoughts, the free-flow runs contradictory to the methodical nature of MBA school (I know, I've done MBA and the 'sphere).

This feedback presents a tremendous opportunity to engage academics and I'll better explain in a post (as it requires more than what I can fit into a comment).

I really appreciate your pointing me to this report.

[DA]

Had a feeling this would touch a nerve. Remember, Xavier is entitled to his opinion. I respect it. But I also feel that if this is how he thinks as a Marketing professor, his students may be getting an incomplete education.

Scott W. Excellent idea. I may pitch some local universities at no cost. See who bites.

Mark, your point about different hits the nail on the head. Different rules, alltogether--marketing students should understand this stuff...

[Natasha Robinson]

David,

I read that article on my way home last night and then I read the part that you quoted "It's a bunch of people writing their opinions, and those people have no credibility." I thought to myself that this is true to a certain extent - certain bloggers have credibility and some don't, but I read the blogs of both types.

So, why do I read blogs?

When I read magazine (notice the use of the past tense) I used especially love the "Letters to the Editors" sections. Why, because I wanted to know what people (both experts and the everyday joe) thought about what they had read. Blogs reading is a natural extension.

[Lori Magno]

Hmmmm, an "Assistant Professor of Marketing" - that's awesome. Is he adjunct faculty or a full time no-experience-necessary teacher?

Mr. Drèze needs an up close and personal with Blog's Eye View!

[Gavin Heaton]

Well found DA ... a very interesting read! Sure there are plenty of blogs out there with few readers -- but that doesn't make the content less interesting or worthwhile. Remember, in academic circles, credibility is built through referencing and cross-referencing ... something many blogs do exceptionally well. They just do it faster.

While I had a great time at university and learned a lot, when I started working and actually APPLYING knowledge, my education really began. Study/research is great for frameworks and understanding the history of things (society, art, economics, marketing), but blogs bring an immediacy to knowledge that leaves research in its wake.

And, of course, it is hard to keep up with social marketing when it continues to shift, change and move about. By the time a blogging book is written, it is already old news. No wonder academics feel threatened. Perhaps academic marketing also needs to be reinvented.

[Roger von Oech]

Isn't it possible that Xavier and David are both right?

I recognize the names of most of the posters above, and I would assume that the "info content" of the blogs they consume on a daily basis is quite a bit richer than the blogs (especially the ones with 0 subsciptions) Xavier is referring to. Each point of view is clearly colored by the blogs they're looking at.

Isn't it possible that Xavier and David are both wrong?

I think many of you would agree that the professor is clearly missing out on some really sweet alternative points of view -- including some that could improve his thinking. But, I think it's also safe to say that the world would move on just fine for the next month if not a single blog post were made in the next thirty days. No matter who you are -- professor or blogger -- it is possible to take yourself too seriously.

[DA]

Roger,

I was waiting for a comment like yours. :)

Yes, you can make the valid observation that we are both wrong or both right or neither. And good point about taking ourselves to seriously.

But consider this. A distinction between my position and Xavier's is that he's dismissing blog value/credibility all together while I willingly acknowledge that trash exists out there. I'm not dismissing anything, but I am challenging his assumption that "these people have no credibility".

So back to taking ourselves too seriously. My brother graduated from Wharton. And I can tell you first hand that that he takes that part of his life history very seriously. So I think it's worthy to analyze the words of this Marketing Professer and I ask this question: when has dismissing anything or anyone advanced knowledge, understanding and plain common sense?

Ps, I don't think I'm right. But I do question Xavier's research methods. Either he's never read a professionals blog or he's made up his mind about blogs a long time ago and wants to convince others to do the same.

[trendoffice]

This seems to be just the regular, logical fight between the way two different generations think. Each one has its rights and both of them make the image of the whole.

[Gavin Heaton]

Hey Roger and David, sometimes the trashiest blogs are the best.

[Charles Edward Frith]

Those that can, do. Those that can't teach, those that can't teach, teach P.E. - Move over Xavier.

[Lewis Green]

David,

Another example of why those who can do, and those who can't teach.

Of course, I agree with CK, the good doctor is due respect for his opinion. Too bad he doesn't feel the same way about bloggers, including those of us who have spent decades practicing what he teaches.

On the other hand, it is inevitable that any medium, including blogs, will achieve the one-third rule: One-third is credible most or all of the time; one-third is credible about half-the time; and one-third is credible none of the time.

It is the reader's job to decide which third they are reading, and then choose to subscribe accordingly.

Good post David.

Lewis

[Lewis Green]

Re: My previous post. I am so used to crediting CK with great thinking, that I credited her for David's comments (see my post above).

[John J]

I see a couple of problems with professor Dreze's analysis of blogs. The fact that most blogs have a subscriber base of 0 is misleading from my perspective.
Personal blogs, which are numerous, will definately skew those numbers. I know for my own personal blog, I do not advertise it and don't have an RSS feed for it. It's used to keep my family and friends updated on my life without sending around emails to everyone.

The other thing that I find interesting about his opinion is that, in my opinion, it's not sustainable. Blogs are here to stay as a communications medium. In a few years, he'll either have to retract his statements about blogs having no value or become obsolete. His statements are, unfortunately, short-sighted.

Finally, I'm amazed that this discussion is still coming up. Back in 2003 I started blogging. When I did, I felt that I was already "behind" the blogging trend because I had held the mis-conception that blogs weren't conversations since only one person was speaking on them. And, of course, these same questions were being raised back then.
I suppose that the wheels of academia move more slowly than others.

[Lewis Green]

DA,

In my past, I served as an editor at an academic publisher, one of the largest in the world. We published bright people, many of them professors, with smart things to say.

However, if we measured the importance or credibility of what they said by book sales, we would assume what they said was unimportant and lacked credibility, and we would stop publishing the works of most PhDs.

Fortunately, we possessed better insight into why books are published then do some who criticize blogs for their lack of subscribers.

Lewis

[KG]

Hmmm... I bet if Professor started writing his own blog, he'd change his tune.

I definitely agree with John J that blogs are here to stay — from both personal and corporate marketing perspectives!

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