<technologies>

The technologies of today have put many consumers in the driver’s seat with what they are allowed to create.  As mentioned earlier, this new social media of CGC folds in with online technologies and practices that allow people to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives regarding products and brands with one another.  A few prominent technologies include blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, and vlogs.

Blogs:

A blog is best described as an online diary where people can keep a running account of their daily lives.  Major topics for blogs include commentary on news and politics.  Many times, a blog page will contain links, images, and other media topics.  The major draw is that blog readers have the ability to leave feedback and comments on what the author has written about.

Currently, the roles of blogs have become very mainstream and very popular.  The conception of the blog has given many Internet users an outlet where they share their voice amongst others regarding what is on their mind.  Blogs have become so user friendly that anyone and everyone can do it.  In 2006, Time magazine named the 2006 person of the year as “you” in reference to all of the contributors to user generated content.  When you think of a “blogger,” you get a mental image of a person sitting in front of their computer and hacking away at the keyboard relentlessly spitting their views onto a computer screen.  However, it has become more complex and in-depth than that.  Bloggers these days communicate with one another directly and in many cases create even larger forums where they can meet and share their opinions.  This is where the word of mouth marketing takes place.

For example, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has recently created a mobile technology feature in their new line of cell phones that combines mobile internet capabilities with Cybershot camera technology, all with in the hope to progress more instantaneous blogging.  They call it “picture blogging” where the phone user can take digital photographs and immediately upload them to their blog and receive instant feedback from their blog readers.

The possibilities of this are endless for blog technology.  Consider this, a consumer tastes a certain food, or restaurant, or even experiences a service. They can share that experience through CGC.  Let us say for the sake of argument that a couple visits a fancy Italian restaurant that is relatively unknown.  The couple has a great meal and loves the atmosphere.  Before they leave, they take photographs and digital video via their camera phone and post their experience on their blog.  Within days, their friends and family members have all seen the experience on the blog and are now going to go experience this restaurant for themselves.  The Italian restaurant didn’t even have to create a print advertisement to get those customers.  That’s the magic of word of mouth marketing through CGC.  With mobile technology and blogging, a local restaurant can now become a dinner hotspot.

Compared to other mainstream media tools, blogs have grown in popularity. The topics discussed over mainstream media topics are very similar to the breakdown of topics discussed over blogs.