We recently received the summer edition of blue, the magazine that the New England Aquarium sends to its members once a quarter. It includes an “on the web” sidebar, which draws attention to the aquarium’s blogs.
The above echoes my recent post about Zoo New England and social media. But where ZNE’s dead trees provided directions to multiple social media sites, NEAQ’s emphasized its blogs. NEAQ does use other sites; for example, I’ve just become a fan of NEAQ on Facebook.
There’s a lot to like about the NEAQ blogs:
- There are multiple blogs, such as: Giant Ocean Tank Divers; Marine Mammal Trainers; and Bahamas Expedition.
- For each blog there’s a clear subject, and a set of individual bloggers who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about that subject. For example, the Tank Divers blog has a list of regulars, each with a profile. It also includes contributions from others; in fact, the above photo is from a post by an intern, Linda (the ray is anonymous).
- It seems that NEAQ regards its blogs as an important part of its website. At the risk of being a greedy advocate for social media, I’d like to see the blogs become more prominent, and I’d like to see a link to Facebook and to other social media channels on the blogs, etc. page.
I’ll summarize by saying that NEAQ uses blogs well to provide frequent updates from expert individuals. I emphasize that last word because, although organizations can enable and encourage blogging, good blogging comes from people who know and care about what they’re writing about.