Recently, the New York Times profiled a story about bloggers who embrace the idea of slow blogging. In this type of blogging or information delivery, concepts and ideas are delivered at a more slower, deliberate pace that allow both the blogger and the blogger’s audience to completely absorb the elements of a story and be able to remember what the story is really about. Slow blogging can be likened to the idea of reading a long book, watching the story unfold and develop, anticipating the end while taking your time to let it all happen…slowly.
A Slow Blog Manifesto, written in 2006 by Todd Sieling, a technology consultant from Vancouver, British Columbia, laid out the movement’s tenets. “Slow Blogging is a rejection of immediacy,” he wrote. “It is an affirmation that not all things worth reading are written quickly.”
The concept of slow blogging is spawned by the idea that good, solid blog stories are those that are well-thought, well-formed and that take a little extra time to publish just in case elements of the story changes. The idea is not so vastly different from that of well thought journalism stories. Good, solid stories that appear in reputable outlets also require that they are well-thought out and well-formed as well. And, just like in the case of journalism stories, elements of the blog story can change too, which is why slow blogging is a conducive form of news delivery in some cases. But the process of slow blogging allows the blogger to formulate a story and deliver when it is completely ready for publishing. Or, as in the case with the New York Times featured blogger Barbara Ganley, allows the reader to go on the journey with the blogger step by step, and participate through their entries as if they were there with her.
In corporate environments, slow blogging may actually add value to a concept that is relatively new. The idea has been around since 2006, but companies and bloggers alike are starting to analyze the process of slow blogging to see if there are any benefits that companies can gain from the idea. Most media outlets and media relations departments of large corporations act on a time basis – – that is, working to see if deadlines can be met quickly, information uploaded to their sites immediately and if they can be the first publishers of the coveted information. Although blogging has the nature of being “quick”, “fast” and “right now”, corporate environments can use the benefits of slow blogging to deliver concepts and ideas to their investors and to their buying audiences. If there is a new product or service that is being developed, corporations can use the slow blogging concept to deliver non time-sensitive information on a more relaxed basis to their blogging audience. The information of course is not going to be front page news, but will be pertinent, thorough, succinct and able to capture and hold the reader’s attention.
What makes slow blogging so intriguing is not the speed at which the blogging is done, but more of how less it is done. In other words, the old adage that says, “good things are worth waiting for”, may in fact be a valuable lesson in this respect. Bloggers who take the time to grow and develop their stories in an interesting, informative fashion are more likely to be successful. Because we live in a news and information vacuum, society almost hurriedly dictates that we deliver information right away. A good idea? Not necessarily, but delivering the right information, at the right time, to the right audience is a good idea. One that perhaps the client would prefer over anything that is hurried along.
I am a freelance writer, blogger and professional motivational speaker. I primarily focus on business content, offering my clients strategic marketing strategies for their businesses. I have been an entrepreneur for over 13 years, after having worked extensively in corporate America.
Hi Bridget, I just came across your article. I liked it so much I posted it in my blog. Thank you, Michael