Comment on Blogs Let Amateurs Steal Your Business Expertise
Chris Baggott reports on a Newsweek story about the absence of business actors in the blogosphere, and amateurs filling the gap.
Isn’t this what mainstream media do on a daily basis. When it comes to specialised topics, many journalists – while communication professionals – are ‘amateurs’ on the subject they report on. And facts may be checked, but insights cannot. And often stories reported in media are framed in peculiar ways (which is one of the reasons why business hires agencies).
The line between amateurs and professionals may be fading. Amateurs have access to unprecedented information and networking resources over the internet that professionals tend to underusing. This levels the playing field. Except for areas which require specialised laboratories or access to proprietary information, enthusiastic amateurs can nowadays give professionals a run for their money.
Often, I find the main challenge in technical communication to be that specialists don’t write well, while communicators do not know the subject area. This could be the reason for the tension between technical and communication departments that’s often observed in organisations.
So what’s easier? For a specialist to learn how to communicate, or for a communicator to learn a subject area. The specialist’s problem is largily attitudinal, and hence can change almost instantly when internally motivated. Mastering a new subject area takes a bit more time.
