Blog Your Way to Beat-dom

Pick me! Pick me! An interesting article I came across in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago said that blogging can be a useful tool to help you get a new job, as employers have begun to scan the blogosphere searching for potential employees. So the article on networking was right: “Human beings are, and always have been, diversely motivated beings. We act instrumentally, but also noninstrumentally. We act for material gain, but also for psychological well-being and gratification, and for social connectedness.” And blogs happen to fulfill all of those goals.

The material gain comes from having something tangible that potential employers can assess (although this presents a danger as well, as it means employers can see everything you say, so if they happen to disagree, you’re doomed.) The psychological well-being comes from having an outlet to rant, rave, and ramble nonsensically about whatever it is you care about that day. And the social connectedness comes in as people read each other’s blogs and share their thoughts on the web. In addition, interesting sorts of blogger friendships have begun to emerge, as bloggers that address the same topic or have the same opinions offer links to each other’s sites in their sidebar. One example is in the sports sector of the blogosphere. Yankee bloggers offer links to fellow Yankee bloggers, sports bloggers offer links to other sports bloggers etc. Even more intriguing is the dialogue that goes on between them, as bloggers reference the other blogs in their posts. A sort of sports blogging network or community has emerged, and these people now have friendships with people they have potentially never met. On top of that, faithful readers of the blog get to feel like they are part of the group as well, even if they have no idea who is sitting behind the computer screen.

(Interesting aside: the rise in celebrity bloggers. The NBA has tapped a few of their star players to write blogs for the NBA’s official website throughout the playoffs, and actress Alyssa Milano has started a blog that appears on the MLB’s website because she is apparently a die-hard LA Dodger fan. But wait, I thought blogs were supposed to give the little guy a voice? The ones that didn’t have access to a printing press or anybody that would write up their thoughts and print them in the tabloids. Some bloggers have reacted quite negatively to stars “encroaching” on their medium, saying they already have enough ways to get their message out and be heard.)

Back to blogging, employment, and sports. So the article in the Wall Street Journal got me thinking about sports writers. Normally, people have a favorite columnist or “beat writer” they turn to for coverage of their favorite sports team. (George King, NY Post and Peter Abrhams, Journal News for the New York Yankees). An interesting new trend has emerged, however. A sports journalism professor wrote that “Well, here's the question about SportsBlogs Nation: Could it turn out to be a Craigslist for sports columns? If not SBNation, then maybe AOL Sports' FanHouse. Because you don't necessarily need the local newspaper. You just need a local, devoted fan who can write well.” SportsBlogs Nation, AOL FanHouse, and many other sites like it unite sports bloggers from around the country, making it easy to find somebody blogging on you’re favorite team. These people are normally die-hard fans quite devoted to the sport, so the coverage is deep, insightful, and relevant, meaning that you don’t necessarily need the newspaper beat writer because these fans are offering the same type of coverage: for free.

Newspapers have responded by having the beat writers blog themselves, which has turned out to be a brilliant idea. While some of the blogs are shallow one liners and have flopped, other more devoted columnists have created blogs that are flourishing. The blogs give the writers a place to address the sport more in-depth than they can in the paper, as they can assume that they are writing to a far narrower audience. They write casual, insightful, and entertaining blogs just like regular bloggers, yet have the resources of a big-time newspaper behind them, so they get to see batting practice and go to the press conferences.

On top of that, the two different types of bloggers have begun to co-mingle. The Average Joe fan blogger talks about the beat-writer’s blog in his postings, and the beatwriters have begun to do the same, referencing the premier fan bloggers out on the net. Entire blogging communities have developed around certain sports and teams, all of which the article on network described beautifully.