Live blogging is just another reason why digital media is becoming more popular than its print predecessor. Whether you are stuck at the office and want to find out what is happening in a cricket match in India, or the electricity goes out during the Oscars, you can still find out what is happening, as it happens.
A screen shot from Cape Town Tourism's website
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, Flow Communications performed an online commentary service for one of its biggest clients, Cape Town Tourism, on its specialist mini-site, www.capetown.travel/2010. This involved a writer doing live updates on Cape Town Tourism’s website every few minutes during the big matches, while a sub-editor ensured that the copy was error-free.
Readers could then follow the match as it happened, while picking up information about Cape Town in the process, providing a bit of destination marketing for the Mother City.
Links to the live blogs were sent out on social networking sites Twitter and Facebook. These blogs were naturally packed with popular keywords, and as such came up high in various Google searches.
Our live commentary on the semi-final match between the Netherlands and Uruguay from Cape Town Stadium is just one example you can look at.
Good live blogging is an innovative way to increase your website’s popularity and credibility, and is something that more South African publications should be looking into, given the growing number of internet users in the country.
To see international examples of live blogging, check out the New Zealand Herald’s coverage of the 2009 Oscar Awards and that from ESPNcricinfo, especially on a famous cricket match at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium when South Africa scored 438 runs to beat Australia.
Live blogging is the future of broadcasting happening now. Instead of sharing details about your event via TV or radio, information is shared in real-time on blogs using multimedia and low cost or free social media tools