Whether intended or not, AOL's big move today in launching Blogging Stocks will get more corporations using blogs as a communications tool - perhaps reluctantly. AOL, under the lead of new employee Jason Calacanis and Weblogs Inc., launched blogs tracking Google, Microsoft, General Electric, Wal-Mart, Apple, eBay, Time Warner and Yahoo.
With this launch, many more employees inside some of the biggest corporations in the world will have a big incentive to start reading blogs. In addition, so will investor relations professionals, analysts, press and any other stragglers. Suddenly blogs aren't just a sideshow, but a major influence that can impact companies positively and negatively where it matters most - shareholder value.
Blogging Stocks and Google Finance, which lists blog posts, bring weblogs out of its perceived geekdom and puts them into the forefront. Blogs now have more power to change the game in the stock market, a scorecard that many of us follow.
All of the stocks that AOL is tracking so far are very blog savvy. All eight firms have at least one blog. Three of them - Microsoft, GE and Wal-Mart - are Edelman clients. As AOL builds out this network it will start covering companies that do not have blogs. Once they do, they will start reading and over time realize they need to get into the conversation actively.
Calacanis and AOL would be wise to be launch more blogs and/or networks that track major companies. Once major marketers feel the power of such blogs there will be little reason not to advertise on them. Just like the trade rags once did. Influence brings ad dollars.
Technorati Tags: AOL, Blogging Stocks, IR, Investor Relations, Stocks
