Blogging Credibility

New Media Fix intern Kade Agan discusses blog credibility:

One of the best ways to determine a blog’s credibility is to realize who the poster is. One oft-mentioned blog is that of Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Schwartz is leading an effort to make his business practices more transparent and far-reaching. Because he is such a well-known and well-informed figure in the technology industry, it’s safe to deem his blog as credible not only because of his personal expertise but also because his high number of similarly well-informed readers would surely recognize any slips on his part and let the rest of those in that particular blogging community know about them.

Just because a blogger isn’t a CEO doesn’t mean he or she isn’t credible, of course. The web is a major online community, with bloggers described in Katherine Heires’ article, Does Your Company Belong in the Blogosphere as “ ... [S]omewhat like constantly circulating guests at a very large cocktail party: They don't all talk directly with one another, but each of them talks to many others, thus forming a richly interlinked network.” A key to credibility, then, means getting mentions in other blogs.

New Media Fix adds: Blogging credibility, as with academic research and journalism, can also be measured by how responsibly the blogger cites reliable sources.