It's funny. Blogging as we all know is going mainstream. Some of you are probably a bit hurt, pissed and otherwise uncomfortable with the newfound fame “blogging” is experiencing. But as I've noted several times before, blogging is simply the promise of the internet — the same internet we all bought into in the mid-90's — finally realized. Call it content management. Call it ongoing updates to sites. Or call it “community”. All of these were dreams of site owners, operators and designers in the mid to late 90's. But without a domain, budget or technical acumen you were out of luck. Company or individual. Then came the blogging tools. And here we are.
But like Kleenex or Xerox, blogging and blog tools have become saturated. As parity “products” there is barely any differentiation between tools, platforms and for the most part, even blogs. This represents both a huge problem and a magnificent opportunity. But we'll get more into that later.
To keep this post short and sweet, I point you to this Associated Press article that discusses, for the most part, what appears to be an article drafted after a solid pitch by a PR person for LiveJournal.
In order to differentiate itself from the crowded segment of blogging tools or software, LiveJournal is positioning itself as something different. Though it's really simply positioning and messaging. And it might just work. That's the beauty of strategic and well thought out marketing.
LiveJournal is not calling itself a “blogging” tool. Rather it's moving away from the crowd by calling itself a tool for online journals — or diaries. The press is perfect for LiveJournal. The messaging and differentiation appears in the fourth paragraph of the article.
[…] unlike blogs, which are dated musings on certain subjects and often carry links to similar blogs, online journals are designed to be more like a coffeehouse, where a community regularly gathers, building friendships and connections as they share personal details […]
In reality, a blog is journal is a diary is a website. The rest is all positioning and messaging — good marketing. Sorry if I burst any balloons. But let's get real here.
Look for more segmentation as the “blogging world” or blogosphere gets even more crowded as more and more companies and enterprising individuals look to cash in on the craze. Ahhhh. Another boom. What a bang.
