Two questions. Why aren’t students blogging? And why isn’t the blog space as altruistic as it once was? One stone to kill two birds…
A final year student contacts me by email to get some urgent data on sports PR. It’s not my specialist area so I’m fumbling round for leads. Then I read a typically lively post by Paull Young at Forward, my favourite student-led PR blog. Noting that he’s in sports PR, I give my student the link and that of his blog, which contains his gmail address. But she prefers to post a comment. Keith Pillow, another Forward contributor, offers to help her. He used to be a sports PR pro. They exchange emails.
My student’s in the UK; Paull’s in Australia; Keith’s in the US. This blog chat has happened in near-real-time. Even better, students, young and experienced PR practitioners are disintermediating their lecturers through this process.
Back to students and blogs. When they are good, they are very, very good. But when they are bad…
PR Studies 
This blogging thing is just great isn’t it! I’ve called in a few favours from bloggers from time to time. Favours I wouldn’t have been able to call in from my immediate ‘real life’ friends.
Maybe that’s an idea? ‘The blog exchange’ where each blogger advertises a particular service or skill they have and the currency is worked out in favours.
The more you contribute, the more favours you’re owed. Heh!
That’s no longer altruism, but it might work…
Richard, are you suggesting that my blog is bad?
Only if ‘bad’ means ‘good’.
š Thank you. I couldn’t seem to figure which side I fell on, good or bad.