Brands To Jump On Blog Bandwagon

from Pete Blackshaw’s predictions for ’05: Blogs absorb flak, yet stay on track. Expect 2005 to open with a predictable slew of fashionably righteous articles de-hyping and pooh-poohing all things blog related, some even by bloggers themselves. Many will lament advertisers co-opting the medium, as well as the influx of clumsy, less savvy newbies in the blogosphere. Even so, the blog format will endure and grow, quickly advancing to a powerful rich-media context, punctuated by surprising new capabilities, such as podcasting.
Publishers, site managers, and even message board managers will embrace (or in some cases, begrudgingly capitulate to) RSS. Big brands and their sites will find the “add water and stir” nature of blog publishing tools irresistible. That will humble overpriced agencies that view platforms such as TypePad and Movable Type as more evil than outsourcing.
Oh, and did I mention that ubiquitous PR-industry blogger Steve Rubel will almost certainly leave his current PR firm to start a new communications agency entitled Macro Persuasion?

Blackshaw
Editor’s note: Rubel refutes the above conjecture at his blog.
Michael Gartenberg, analyst for Jupiter Reseacch, also has some predictions (it’s that time of year).
3. More people will lose their jobs over their weblogs. It’s happened already, and it will happen again. If you’re posting about your job or employer without consent, you’re taking a lot of risk with your future.
4. But more corporations will create official blogs. Corporations have seen the weblog light, and blogs will become common for business use. Unfortunately, far too many of these efforts will just be marketing fluff disguised as weblogs.