I got a copy of Hugh Hewitt's new book Blog: Understanding The Information Reformation That's Changing Your World on Friday, but wanted to read it a couple of times before writing about the main points that stuck with me, in addition to my overall opinion of the book.
First, in the spirit of full disclosure, I must address the matter of bias. I write for a blog, therefore I have a point of view of my own about the subject of the book. The blog I write for, Polipundit, has been promoted generously by Hugh Hewitt through links and specific recommendations. Polipundit is named several times in the book.
The topic of blogger bias is actually discussed in the book and is one reason blogs have become so popular. Hewitt explains that "honest members of the elite media" will admit personally that those they work with have a liberal bias and voted for Gore or Nader in 2000, "but they don't and they can't admit the above to the public, even though the consumer of news and information knows that." With blogs, the public gets full disclosure and is able to make an informed decision about which sources of news to trust.
That being said, and doing my best to set bias aside, I highly recommend Hugh Hewitt's new book, both to those already deeply immersed in the blogosphere and also to those like my friends and family who look at me a little like I just told a dirty joke when I tell them "I blog." In a fairly "quick read" --223 pages-- Hewitt tells the story of the blog in three separate parts -- past, present and future. In those 223 pages, he goes from being teacher and historian by telling the history of the web log and detailing the top stories where blogs made a difference, to playing the role of marketing director by providing a list of blogs for new readers, telling business leaders what a blog could do for their product or organization, and explaining to readers how they can start their own blog. He packs quite a lot of information into a relatively small package.
What I enjoyed most about the book is the combination of the general, big picture overview of the scope and importance of the blogosphere, with the more detailed nuts and bolts view providing instructions for starting a new blog or improving an existing one. The big picture includes a comparison of what Hewitt calls the "information reformation" to the Protestant Reformation. (This is an idea I found interesting when I linked to this post by Kim Schratwieser earlier this month.) Hewitt, in an entire chapter, goes into great detail making the case for the comparison of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, led by Luther, and made possible by "Gutenberg's gift of the printed page," to the information reformation of the twenty-first century, made possible by the internet. He talks about the incredible growth of blogs "from 1 to 4,000,000 in five years" and provides plenty of proof of their influence from Trent Lott to Rathergate.
On the nuts and bolts aspects of the book, Hewitt, after having made the case of the increasing growth and influence of blogs, cautions business leaders that if they ignore blogs they will be overlooking the marketing tool of the future. He then gives some excellent advice for various ways to make the blog a part of several diverse types of businesses. Although Hewitt discusses nuts and bolts, the book never gets too technical. In fact, Hewitt make the case that "being a technophobe is no barrier to blogging." The following entirely makes his point: "I learned how to spell-check in September of 2004. I had been blogging for two years by that point." He goes on to say "Design-savvy bloggers mock my layout, and rightly so...I am still unsure what an RSS feed is and have trouble making the permalinks work -- but it does not matter! That's the point. It is all about the content." Amen, Brother Hugh.
