Why the blog????

I dont like the blogs...why not just post information info and anoucments all in 1 spot instead of placing it in differnt websites...it makes things confusing and takes more time to post in both spots.

FANTASTIC QUESTION ERIC!!!

Here are some of many reasons:

Why a blog? (Short for "web log", like an "Internet diary".)


1) We're open to outside world. You don't have to be a Resident to read 'em. Why does this matter? Because as we continue to expand SL, it's essential that we make our information as accessible as possible. For example, I've already heard from some journalists who got the news from our blog, and curious visitors too. We can be linked to, trackbacked, syndicated, etc.

2) Simplicity. The information presented is in a cleaner format, making it easier to get to and cutting down on the confusion.

3) Distribution. After hearing complaints about the limited usefulness of our forum RSS feeds, the blogs provide a superior way to subscribe to live news so *you* can hear what's going on.

4) Ability to directly reply to announcements. Can't do that here! (This is going to be more important in the future.)

5) Loads quickly. The forum loading can be pretty bloated compared to the streamlined blog content. This is especially important in those "OMG! WHAT'S GOING ON???" times. As we know from what happened yesterday.

6) Linden posts don't get lost. Hundreds (literally) of times, I've seen Linden writing be buried in the forums. Even some super-informative ones. So news gets missed, we hear many times about "Where did you say that?" and it's been a longtime, soretooth problem. All I know is from my experience. The blog makes it much more obvious and easy to be informed--and we can never do that well enough, so I'm content we have it up.

7) More effective to respond to Residents. There's a misconception blogs are one-way--not so! When you lay yourself bare on the Internet, you invite dialog and discussion. Many of our existing blog posts are directly in response to Resi concerns in the community, and more to come. And again, that loops back to #6. I was a skeptic at first, but I'm becoming more of a believer through actually doing it. (Part of this is because of my own personal blog, which has greatly facilitated my understanding.)

Many companies are doing it, so we should too! Hehe. Half-joking on that, but blogging has proven to be tremendously useful for many companies to communicate with their customers. Us very deeply, because I know how essential it is to have positive professional relationships AND a personal touch.


Also, fine point about the redundancy--to be absolutely clear, we're moving away from forum announcements and focusing on the blog. I've already placed a link signaling the way, so watch for forum announcements to be shut down in the future, with a pointer to the blog while the transition completes.

And if you hate blogs, or if you find the word "blog" funny, you don't even have to think of it that way... you can get the latest Linden info as an email newsletter which gets automatically sent to you daily:More reasons, of course, are written on the blog itself.

Anyone reading this who's not visited yet, I warmly welcome you to:

The Official Linden Blog!