Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Gina Venolia about blogging at Microsoft. Very informative.
Turns out she is looking at blogging in general and applying it's strengths [in theory] to collaboration at Microsoft.
Maybe I'll post more on this later but, I would really like to see if she will make her research accessible online. We'll see.
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1596168,00.asp
Also, some more links folks have sent to me:
http://blogs.gotdotnet.com/
http://www.gotdotnet.com/team/dbox/
And this:)
http://research.microsoft.com/users/brill/blog.htm
Last night I intended to bring a close to this project. Pressed for time, busy at work, busy at home, etc, etc. Dare Obasanjo wrote me again today and provided some really interesting facts. Since we're all busy people and he has taken the time to provide some good insight I think I should add what he's said to my work.
As usual, deciding to add Dare's contributions to the project raises some questions. They stem from the fact that this project is an "echo in the echo chamber". What is the best way to go back and add new information to what I've done so far? Traditionally, when writing a paper, an author would just go back and modify what they've already written. Is that appropriate in this format? If I go back and change what I've already written does that disrupt the narrative? This seems an especially important question as this work is 'public' and many people have certainly read (and commented on) the work as it appears rather than when it's complete (as they would if this were a paper).
I've decided to append new information to what I've already written. I don't know if this is the best way to go about it or not.
Dare Obasanjo provided me with some very thorough information on the history of blogging at Microsoft, his role in it, and some usage statistics on his msdn blog and his personal blog. I won't quote from it. Instead, I urge a complete reading.
What Dare says would seem to give some credibility to the questions I raised last night about my initial assumptions. That being, there is not a directed effort at Microsoft (or MSDN) to use blogs to communicate with the larger Microsoft Technology Community. Instead, the blogging stems from a desire on Microsoft's part to increase the level of communication with customers and users and individual decisions on the part of Microsoft employees (or people otherwise affiliated with Microsoft) to use blogs due to their popularity.
Dare also gives some insight into the traffic his blogs receive. While this certainly does not represent comprehensive research it is interesting and represents the best information I can obtain given time restrictions. Dare has identified about 1000 unique IP addresses. This is a good guess at the number of people reading his posts. As I said, this is not comprehensive. It would be very interesting (and nearly impossible) to know who these people are and how reading Dare's blog affects their work. Asking readers to complete a survey might be helpful. Online surveys are problematic at best from a Communication Research perspective but, it would be a relatively quick way to test the waters. Microsoft does conduct surveys on it's website. I wonder if anyone at MSDN or MSR would be interested in surveying blog readers?
Eventhough there's not a coordinated effort at Microsoft to use blogs to interact with interested parties the use of blogs has reached a point where it might as well be. Revisiting the idea of perception, it sure looks like there is an intentional effort. In spite of the fact that this blog-phenom is an animal all its own the opportunity to discern an intentional effort will cause some people to discard the blog activity as yet another effort to conquer the world (however unfair that may be). Still, what sort of person would come to that conclusion? Dare hints at open source advocates in his post. Are these the people that Microsoft bloggers are seeking to influence? I think it depends on who the blog author is. Blogs like Scoble's (largely evangelistic) may acknowledge these people exist and attempt to expose them to information they may not normally be exposed to. To more technically oriented blogs like Dare's and many many others these open source advocates may matter far less.
To sum this up [again], the vast scale of Microsoft-related blogging on such a wide variety of topics certainly opens the door to an increased level of communication with interested parties. It's probably too early to say whether or not it's successful. The best indications I have (largely from Dare Obasanjo) are that it certainly may be. Keep in mind, the level of Microsoft-related blog activity has apparently just ramped up in 2004.
There would seem to be a lot room for future research using more traditional Communication research techniques. Personally, I would be interested in conducting or participating in more. I wonder, at what point will people within Microsoft assign enough importance to what is going on to conduct this research? Is it even possible for someone outside Microsoft to get sufficient access to authors, statistics, and readers to coduct the work?
All good questions.
Finally, I can't thank Dare Obasanjo and Robert Scoble enough for (intentionally or unintentionally) helping my work.
"blogs.msdn.com" 12 May 2004. WWW blogs.msdn.com. 12 May 2004
"Weblogs @ ASP.NET" 12 May 2004. WWW weblogs.asp.net. 12 May 2004
"Channel 9" 12 May 2004. WWW channel9.msdn.com. 12 May 2004
Branum, James M. Dec. 2001. WWW http://www.ajy.net/jmb/blogphenomenon.htm 10 May 2004
Greenlee, Dana. "New trends at Microsoft: Blogging, RSS and Channel 9" 3 Apr. 2004. WWW http://www.webtalkguys.com/040304.shtml 13 May 2004.
Lefever, Lee. "Online Community Strategies: TrackBack Described in Plain English" 23 Mar. 2004. WWW http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000568.html 16 May 2004
Obasanjo, Dare. "Introductions: My Day Job" 20 Feb. 2004. WWW http://blogs.msdn.com/dareobasanjo...77260.aspx
O'Neill, Brendan. "Gone to the blogs" 14 Jan. 2003. WWW http://www.spiked-online.com...00000006DBDD.htm 10 May 2004
Trott, Mena and Ben. "TrackBack Explanation" 24 Mar. 2003. WWW http://www.movabletype.org/trackback/beginners/ 16 May 2004
I thought at this point, after having wrapped up my seemingly failed work, I should comment about this process.
First, I really ran out of time. Due to the [welcomed] intervention of outside forces the focus of my work shifted mid-course. While this was a fantastic opportunity to really explore the blogosphere and the people in it due to time contstaints it really derailed my timeline.
Second, blogging about blogs in this format (a finite undergraduate project) was difficult in the sense that it was hard to produce coherent thought from day to day. In spite of my best intentions and efforts, the things that went on in between each post (some of which were positive and exiciting) it made it very difficult to 'stick to the plan'. While this complaint could apply to any project it seems to have had a particular affect on this project due to the nature of blogging.
Third, did you read this backwards? If so, that was strange eh? If not, naughty naughty. The question of "how is somebody going to read this" plagued me throughout the process. When an author writes a paper, he or she can be sure that a reader is going to read things (if not everything) in a certain order. It would be unnatural to do anything else. With this blog, it's almost natural to read it backwards (top down). Very difficult to come to terms with as the author.
Fourth, it's difficult to stick to the traditional academic format and vocabulary on a blog. After reading dozens of blogs a night I routinely found myself writting witty, terse comments instead of insightful academic, big worded, double-talk...see what I mean?
In any event. This excercise was very enlightening. I'm not sure how successful my hypothesis was. I'm not sure another person couldn't have done a much better job. Still, as I said, I found it very interesting and hope some other people will too.
Several pieces of new information have surfaced which challenge a couple of my assumptions that I began this project with.
1) I'm not sure that it's fair to characterize the blog activity surrounding software development using Microsoft technology as a Microsoft directed effort.
2) It's clear that a substantial percentage of the blog authors writing about Microsoft technology are not Microsoft employees.
Where does this leave my hypothesis that Microsoft is seeking to communicate facts, foster innovation, and build communities?
Honestly, it's impossible to know for certain whether or not the blogging at Microsoft is a 'directed effort'. I posed this question to a number of people who were raising questions about my assumption that this was the case. The only response I got was a link to a blog that was inaccessible. Too bad. Nevertheless, yesterday I suggested that the truth about what was driving the blogging doesn't really matter. I suggested that what mattered was the average blog reader's peception.
Unfortunately this may raise more questions that it answers. What is the average blogger? How could a researcher gauge the average blogger's perception? Luckily, a Communication or Media Technology researcher should be well equipped to handle both of these questions. For example, conducting interviews with blog readers, holding focus groups, and making observations of blog readers could all contribute to further understanding.
While many of the bloggers I focused on may not actually be Microsoft employees the degree to which they are affiliated with Microsoft is unclear and hard to discover. Still, the majority (~57% or 572 of 991) are Microsoft employees. Additionally, perception plays a role here as well. Eventhough a blog author may not be employed by Microsoft his or her blog can be hosted at weblogs.asp.net. How many blog readers will take the time to discover this fact?
Continuing on...
The fact remains that these blogs are communicating information that at times is represented as fact. In the majority of cases, the technical blogs in particular, that is pretty fair to say. In other cases, Scoble's blog for example, blog authors are guiding readers through vast amounts of information.
Blogs that focus on Microsoft technolgy (authored by employees or affiliated people) clearly foster innovation. It some cases it may be innovative software development techniques. For example, using XML in a relational database engine. In other cases, it may be in choosing to adopt a new technology. For example, adopting the TabletPC as a way of working. Additionally, by guiding readers through "chatter" blog authors are in a unique position allowing them to help bring new ideas to reader's attention.
Perhaps the biggest single idea embodies in my hypothesis was: Do these blogs help build online communities?
I realize now that this was too big a question for this project to really answer. Without interviewing a vast number of people the only way I can think of to address this question is to conduct an analysis of reader usage patterns. For example, analyzing web logs (not weblogs) of servers hosting blogs for return visitors and comments would be a great first step. Even if researchers were to do this, I personally think that interviews and other techniques would be necessary to really justify any findings.
Having [finally] had some time today to think about the idea that the blog authors that are the subject of my research have noticed my work (before it's even done) I've decided to focus on it a little tonight. Others beside Scoble have noticed this work but, I'm sure they'll actually post something about it or not.
Scoble writes in his entry on my work,
"So, I see a lot of value in being a connector role, or someone who'll tell you when there's interesting stuff elsewhere on the blogs."
Interesting things are happening today which have motivated to post outside the bounds that I originally set up.
At least Robert Scoble and Dare Obasanjo have noticed this blog/project.
This is just great. It really brings up several issues from a technology perspective and a communication perspective. For example, how on earth did these two find what I was writing? How does this question relate to my recent discussion on barries to entry into the realm of blogs?
From a communication perspective, think about this. Robert Scoble (a subject in my research) has elicited comments from his readers about what I am writing. This is really something.
BTW, I'd love to talk with anybody working for or affiliated with Microsoft about this. I'll be in Redmond next week and although my schedule is pretty full I'm sure I can squeeze something in.
There are a handful of features that a typical blog makes available to its authors and readers.
From the authors perspective the most important feature is the ability to post new information. Most blogs allow authors to format text, provide hyperlinks, and upload files. Additionally, many features are automated by the blogging software for the author. Posts are automatically dated, archived, and made accessible through the Relatively Simple Syndication (RSS) protocol.
Authors are also able to manipulate the date and time associated with a post, edit the post, and even delete it.
A more subtle features includes the author's ability to allow or disallow comments from readers. These comments can be anonymous or required identification, usually through some form of registration. The choices an author makes in terms of how to configure these options can have an important effect on how readers use the blog.
A lot of research has been done on the impact of identity in online communities. One could guess that anonymity could really empower online community members to speak their minds in ways they would not otherwise do. This would help explain a lot in terms of the flame wars often seen in a vest number of newsgroups and online forums. It's interesting to note that the same degree of anonymity is available to blog users and yet, flame wars appear to be non-existent in blog comments. Without a doubt blog authors directly or indirectly discuss opposing points of view on various topics. And yet, somehow, these discussions remain very civil when compare to other online forms.
From the reader's perspective one of the biggest features of blogs is the fact that everything is presented in chronological order. The most recent post is always on top. Posts are often accessible day-by-day. That is, many blogs present the reader with a calendar that provides hyperlinks to each day's posts for the current month. Archived content, usually more than a month old, is often accessible by month.
Most blogs do not have builtin search facilities however, many aggregators (a utility application readers can use to consolidate their blog reading) help users perform searches and many search services (Google for example) will search blogs.
The strict ordering of posts (by date) and the lack of builtin search capability may pose a problem for casual blog readers or inexperienced blog readers to the point that it becomes a real barrier to entry.
The other feature of blogs that really involves readers is the ability to leave comments. The 'comments' feature is just that. Readers can leave comments directed at the author. The structure of the messages does not lend itself to an ongoing discussion on the part of readers. Blog comments differ from internet forums in that substantial way. Again, comments are left for the author and not in response to another reader's comment.
A feature named 'Trackback' is also used by some blogs but, not all. Trackbacks allows blog authors to notify readers of another blog that they are discussing the same topic in another location. This feature is a little bit confusing and some good reading on the subject of trackbacks can be found here:
http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000568.html
http://www.movabletype.org/trackback/beginners/
Trackbacks are interesting in that while they do not make blogs more interactive they do help promote the reading of potentially different points of view on any given topic. While the trackbacks may be interesting in the sense that they may drive reader's activities they are not unique. Many news sites have "Related Stories" features which make news stories related to the article currently being read easily accessible. Additionally, e-commerce sites often use "buyers who bought x also bought y and z" which are very similar in terms of the desired result...driving the reader's/shopper's actions.
In the previous two posts I've sampled three blogs authored by Microsoft employees. Two of these were specific selections and the last one was pretty random.
We see a little bit of variety in these three blogs.
The first one discussed, as previously mentioned, may be one of the most prominent Microsoft blogs out there. The author, Robert Scoble, an evangelist, seems to counter or support hot, current topics. In a few cases he clearly attempts to set an agenda for his readers. In most cases it seems that Scoble is seeking to mitigate or control his reader's internalization of other agenda setters. In those cases he acts as a gate-keeper to information by providing supporting information or counter points to media stories and other bloggers.
The other two blogs sampled for today's work are somewhat similar but, distinctly differ from Scoble's. Both Dare Obasanjo's WebLog and shaykatc's WebLog provide specific information, facts even, to a discrete audience. Both authors clearly announce their expertise from the outset. When we combine each author's stated expertise with the fact that their blogs are located on Microsoft servers and the current employment status they take on a certain amount of authenticity. While Dare's blog may vere from his stated realm from time to time in general, both blogs represent a meduim that communicates facts. In Dare's case he is clearly at the forefront of emerging technologies helping to foster innovation. It's difficult to know how many people one or the other of these blogs. Judging from the comments made on both blogs it would appear that each has a relatively small but focused set of readers.
-- Edit here if either person provides some stats on readership --
What conclusions can be drawn from the samples taken here about what people are blogging? It depends.
On one hand, we have an apparently savy evangelist-type providing mediated information to his readers in a timely manner on hot topics. While not communicating undisputed facts Scoble is providing, in some cases, an alternate view to media reports and other blog author's entries. Although Scoble's blog does not frequently seek to aid in the development of his reader's technical skills it does focus on emerging technology from time to time in an attempt to draw his reader's attention. In this case it would seem that Scoble's blog represents a PR stunt with some agenda setting and a fair amount of gate-keeping.
On the other hand we have two blogs that seem to represent something a little more important in many respects. Looking back at the hypothesized goals of Microsoft's blogs (communicating facts, fostering innovation, building community) we see that both of last blogs combined perform all three of these tasks. Both authors claim specific credentials and authenticity. Both authors adhere to a relatively rigid set of topics. One provides cutting edge information on new technology and technique while the other provides facts about how best to go about accomplishing specific tasks. At the same time, both have regular contributors (via comments) and frequently link to more expansive information. This last bit in particular could really be beneficial in terms of the goal of fostering community. By helping build common knowledge among their readers both blogs create a foundation for discussion and the establishing of new or enhancing of existing relationships. A real step toward community.
To wrap this up. If we look at any single blog we're not likely to see everything we were looking for way back on day one. However, if we take these blogs as a whole (as a micro-blogoshpere) we see that the content presented to readers combines to address each goal presented in the Proposal. We are not able at this point to declare Microsoft's effort a success. Tomorrow we'll look at some of the features blogs bring to readers and how those features help or hinder meeting the goals presented. At that point, we'll make a prediction on Microsoft's chances for success.
Robert Scoble's blog may be one of Microsoft's most prominent public blogs. Certainly in the shere software development with Microsoft Technology. However, Scoble also fills a role as an evangelist. Are there other less publicized blogs that deal with different subjects? More facts? More new ideas?
Let's start with Dare Obasanjo's WebLog. Just look at his intro posted in February 2004. The full entry is here.
I am a program manager for the WebData XML team. The WebData team is part of the SQL Server Product Unit and produces the major data access technologies that Microsoft produces including MDAC, MSXML, ADO.NET, System.Xml, ObjectSpaces and the WinFS API.
As a technical program manager I am responsible for the nitty gritty of the design of the classes in the following namespaces in the .NET Framework
If we accept the notion that Microsoft is indeed in the midst of a big push terms of blogging it raises a series of questions.
What is the purpose behind all the blogging?
What is being written in these blogs? Does is jive with the purpose?
What are some of the obstacles Microsoft faces?
Is the effort having success?
"...trying to give people a view into Microsoft that they haven’t had before."
The big idea here is to examine Microsoft's [relatively] recent adoption of blogs as tools to communicate from a Mass Media perspective. We'll get to theories and such a little later on but, for now, let's establish the fact that Microsoft is indeed pushing blogs as a tool to communicate with developers who currently or could potentially use their technology.
Q: Is Microsoft really trying to use a blogs? In large numbers?
Reference 1: http://blogs.msdn.com/
Statistics available at the time of this post:
Blogs - 572
Posts - 11297
Articles - 242
Comments - 35617
Trackbacks - 5648
(blogs.msdn.com, 2004)
572 Blogs!? How many people work at the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN)?
Reference 2: http://weblogs.asp.net/
Again, more stats:
Blogs - 991
Posts - 30395
Articles - 691
Comments - 72684
Trackbacks - 11466
(weblogs.asp.net, 2004)
Some of these may be duplicates but, not more than 572!
Reference 3: http://channel9.msdn.com
Is this website a blog? Maybe. It could also be merely a portal intended to drive developers to content (blogs) authored by established authorities. Take a look at the explanation of the site's purpose
Channel 9 started as a personal story from one of us about fear of flying. Lenn realized after years of dealing with it, that it was actually a fear of the unknown. The fear was conquered through learning. The more transparency into what it took to fly a plane, the more the fear went away. Lenn got to know pilots who flew planes everyday, and every time he flew he turned on Channel 9 on the in-flight audio system to listen in to the cockpit.
We think developers need their own Channel 9, a way to listen in to the cockpit at Microsoft, an opportunity to learn how we fly, a chance to get to know our pilots. Five of us in Redmond are crazy enough to think we just might learn something from getting to know each other. Were we wrong? Time will tell.
Join in, and have a look inside our cockpit and help us fly the plane.
Mike Padula (padula@tc.cornell.edu)
S&TS 349
Final Paper (Proposal)
Blogs as Mass Media
Blogs (weblogs) are a relatively recent innovation built on a relatively new media technology, the World Wide Web. Blogs have become particularly popular in certain circles only very recently. Microsoft has launched a barrage of blogs usually authored by authoritative personalities (that work at or are strongly affiliated with Microsoft) in the software development world. A few of the aims behind this could be to communicate facts about Microsoft technology, to foster innovation using Microsoft technology, and to build communities around Microsoft employee’s personalities and Microsoft’s technology. All these aims underline the fundamental aim which is to foster Microsoft’s economic growth. Some questions to examine could be:
• Can Blogs (as a form of mass media communication) communicate facts?
• How could a blog foster innovation in software development?
• Can a community really be built through a blog based on a single personality?
• Can a collection of blogs (based on a single personality) build a community?
• How do the technological limitations of a blog help or hinder (given the goals)?
The above questions are intended to challenge the idea that a blog can achieve the goals as I’ve outlined (conveying facts, fostering innovation, building community). In addition, how do they characteristics of a blog aid or hinder the chances of achieving specific goals? For example, it’s very difficult to read past postings on a blog beyond a month or two. As a consequence, it may be nearly impossible to identify authoritative contributors beyond the author. How does that affect the goal of conveying facts? Is it possible to foster innovation when you can’t determine the validity of a contributors post? Blogs are rigidly structured around time. Posts are unavoidably ordered from most recent to least recent. Is the most recent information always the most relevant? Is the most innovative or most thoroughly discussed information always the most recent? All these questions touch the surface of many issues commonly discussed in terms of Communication and Mass Media. Building Communities online is a very vaguely defined process. Indeed, the term community is defined very differently by different researchers depending on the context. The project would cast a critical eye on the use of blogs as a form of mass media given the goals specified. The discussion and conclusions would take the form of a blog, hosted on the World Wide Web, and would remain accessible as long as necessary.
