Bloggers hold major international conference

As a clear sign of the rapidly rising importance of blogs, bloggers from the four corners of the world met in Montreal this past weekend, to discuss the role that blogging will play in consumer society as Web 2.0 technology gains ground. Entitled WordCamp, over 200 bloggers met up in Montreal for a two day conference on the rapid expansion of the blogosphere, as well as how blogging has challenged the traditional world of journalism.

Some of the world’s largest corporations and media companies rely on WordPress to serve as a platform for their blogs, including international giants such as CNN, as well as the New York Times. Matt Mullenweg, WordPress’ successful founder, came up from Texas for the Montreal symposium and spoke about the way in which blogs have altered the media world. According to Mullenweg’s analysis, blogs did not challenge journalism itself, but rather the traditional practitioners of the journalistic profession and old elites. Mullenweg believes that “traditional media is in trouble,” while journalism itself stands to benefit from blogging.

WordPress is not only useful for private bloggers and large media conglomerates, but companies of any size. The platform allows for the construction of a clear, easily readable blog, while also ensuring that the firm in question gets the best exposure through major search engines, like Google. In fact, blog entries are indexed by Google almost immediately after they appear on the site, and are listed separately by search tools that gather all material published on blogs. The best news-related blogs also make it into Google News, which allows for companies to win their clientele’s loyalty by providing them with useful information, while also informing them of product developments.