relate

Time Magazine acknowledges the power of the blog

In a recent Time Magazine article called Meet Joe Blog (groan), blogs, and really what many categorize as fan sites, are finally getting the recognition that they deserve.

Over the past five years, blogs have gone from an obscure and, frankly, somewhat nerdy fad to a genuine alternative to mainstream news outlets, a shadow media empire that is rivaling networks and newspapers in power and influence. Which raises the question: Who are these folks anyway? And what exactly are they doing to the established pantheon of American media?

In the article they mention more mainstream fan-type sites such as Slashdot, but also key on some very niche blogs and how they have become a big hit with readers. Are the Time's and Newsweek's of the world worried? I think they should be!

Welcome to relate

Welcome to my new blog! Through my work, I've been following blogs for a number of years, but have never really taken the plunge and created one myself. I thought about creating a truly personal one, but instead thought that would be boring for most folks, aside from maybe my mother.

So after talking to a colleague who created his first blog this morning, I thought what the heck, and hence relate was hatched.

While I decided that the subject matter should relate to things I do as part of my work (I'm a PR professional who specializes in building buzz, community and online PR for games), I also wanted to focus on aspects of the gaming industry that interest me. My fiance and I talked about how it seems that everything we do in PR really revolves around relationships. Relationships with publishers and developers; and especially relationships with webmasters, bloggers and the general community. So we came up with the catchy name of relate for the blog.

My fiance and I will post from time-to-time about our experiences and musings as they relate (groan) to online PR, the games community and general buzz/viral marketing. We more than welcome your comments, suggestions and general feedback. Hope you enjoy!