If you needed any proof that blogs are wielding tremendous power – and are even beginning to eclipse traditional media in certain sectors – then look no further than what unfolded a few days back...
Popular gadget and consumer electronics blog,
Engadget, received an email from Apple corporate through a reliable source at the company saying that the launch of the iPhone and the next version of its operating system – Leopard – would be delayed by several months.
Engadget subsequently published the story and, before you knew it, Apple's stock had fallen from $107.89 to $103.42, wiping around $4 billion off its market capitalization.
Of course, it turns out that the internal Apple email Engadget received was in fact a
hoax, but it kind of drove home, for me at least, the growing authority of blogs and how they can influence (and, in this case, throw into disarray) not just people but entire markets.
If blogs are that influential, how can issuers influence them, in turn? Get a blog strategy, and get one now.