The number of people blogging is still growing (just check Technorati for numbers), but the number of organizations starting blogs is rising, too. After enough staff members and volunteers touted the usefulness of blogs for conversation, news, and general transparency, it seems organizations are looking to give blogs a chance. Organizations of all sizes and sectors are utilizing this community building tool. Here are some examples of how far and wide blogs are being used to reach out to the community.

ARK Adventure

When the idea of starting a blog for our organization first came up a few years ago, I thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. All I knew about blogs was that a few of my friends did it for fun, and the Houston Chronicle had about 50 of them that didn't interest me in the least. And since when was my organization the kind to waste its time on trendy stuff like that?

Looking back, I think my problem was not understanding the purpose of having a blog. I mean, we already had a website where we posted news and pictures - wasn't a blog just another place to put all the same stuff, only with a trendier name? At that time, I don't think any of us really "got it".

Josh Levy, who is awesome, and I talk about his new job as managing editor at Change.org, what he's learned at techPresident, and why he believes that just writing blogs won't change the world.

What is your role at Change.org?

Earlier in the month I taught a Nonprofit Blogging 101 workshop at the 2008 Making Media Connections Conference.  At the beginning of the session, I asked folks what their burning questions were.  Below are their questions, and my quick answers.  What questions and answers would you add?

 1. How do we decide if our organization should have a blog?

Answer these questions:

1. What is the goal you want to achieve?
2. Who is your target audience?
3. What are the communication tools you could use to achieve that goal?

If a blog is one of the tools you think would meet your goal, ask yourself:

Ok, a little more focus here, how might an organization use social networks on line, to boost their project?

This is a rapidly evolving sector.

There are sites like Myspace, Facebook and quite a few others.

I think one of the goals is to educate the public, expose, but also to find people who already have a common ground to a project.

Interested to hear views on this.

I have been playing around with Twitter tonight, trying to see how well this can integrate with Drupal. There is alot of buzz starting to brew about how Twitter can be used as a tool for advocacy, political campaigning, and possibly even fundraising. I was personally looking for an easy way to do some micro-blogging from the road. To be completely honest, I am not a huge blogger (as you can see from the frequency of my posts), because it requires me to take time out of my busy days to sit down and formulate coherent thoughts into posts like this one (ugh).

Ian Kennedy works at Yahoo as a Product Manager for MyBlogLog. In the e-interview below, he talks about how nonprofits can use MyBlogLog to build community on their blog or web site, what changes and additions Yahoo has made to MyBlogLog since they bought it in January, and what new features and tools are in the works. You can check out his personal blog at everwas.com.

1. What can a nonprofit do with MyBlogLog?

At my blog, studio 501c, I asked readers to point me toward examples of nonprofits that have engaged young people in blogging. I also asked for examples of safety guidelines the nonprofits used as a result. I started this research, on behalf of a friend who works for a youth-engaging nonprofit, by emailing Britt Bravo, Beth Kanter, and Marshall Kirkpatrick, all of whom I want to be like when I grow up (and all of whom I finally met face-to-face at Blogher in Chicago this past summer). I'm grateful to them for getting the ball rolling.

Flickr Photo by Muha

Netsquared's Community Manager and tireless blogger Britt Bravo left today for a well earned vacation and I've been invited to be a guest blogger in her place while she is enjoying herself off line. I'm glad she isn't live blogging her vacation!

Google, as the internet search leader, is given the lowest "black mark" and placed on the botton of the heap of the worlds major internet companies, with a "hostile to privacy rating"  by Privacy International.

Ethics and Corporate accountability procedures seem to be ineffective, in the publics mind space. Silicon Valley companies must deal with "Privacy" issues. As the number one concern of citizens, tech corporations need to get out ahead of the issue, and regulations. The creation of a clear code of conduct and practise would be a good start. Otherwize they will loose the trust and good will they need to continue to thrive.