We have discussed and debated the importance and influence of blogs on business.

After doing a little bit of research, it looks like people really do care what is posted on a blog. Hmmm...I wonder if I start blogging about Target stores in the Twin Cities, will someone in downtown Minneapolis pick up on it?

Anyways, through my research I found out that Dell's public relations nightmare regarding its sub par customer service was the result of a blogger. The blogger Jeff Jarvis started blogging about Dell.

Jeff Jarvis wrote the simple entry of:

Dell lies. Dell sucks
I just got a new Dell laptop and paid a fortune for
the four-year, in-home service.
The machine is a lemon and the service is a lie.
I’m having all kinds of trouble with the hardware:
overheats, network doesn’t work, maxes out on
CPU usage. It’s a lemon.
But what really irks me is that they say if they sent
someone to my home -- which I paid for -- he
wouldn’t have the parts, so I might as well just
send the machine in and lose it for 7-10 days -
- plus the time going through this crap. So I have
this new machine and paid for them to FUCKING
FIX IT IN MY HOUSE and they don’t and I lose it
for two weeks.
DELL SUCKS. DELL LIES. Put that in your Google
and smoke it, Dell.


This case has inspired a new study into the influence of blogs, but one thing that researchers have struggled with is how to measure a blog's influence. Since my own personal background is in performance evaluation, research methodology, and survey design, I found it particularly interesting how researchers are starting to measure the influence of bloggers--by using issue influence is measured rather simply by studying two things:
A.) per topic
B.) using keywords

So, I guess that corporations are going to have to monitor what all of us faceless, semi-anonymous creeps out here in cyberspace blogging about our dissatisfying experiences with various organizations.

More to come soon. I have to get myself to class...BUT, will be back with more on this ASAP.


PS. If there are any Target-ers watching. The Target store in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota needs a little love.