Communication Overtones Comments
Great post, Kami. I've been an off-again, on-again member of PRSA (currently off), so thanks for brining this issue to my attention.
Kami:
If I could wade in again ...
Maybe it's just a choice of words, but I don't think women PR pros have been "shut out" of blogging at all.
I mean, anyone can start a blog on Blogger or Typepad in a matter of minutes, and Blogger is free. Neither service will ban you for being a woman! 
As your article states, there may be several reasons why women are more hesitant than men to blog: fear of voicing an opinion; not wanting to call attention to themselves; time pressures; etc.
Those are all legitimate and no woman PR professional should be criticized if she chooses not to blog.
But I think overall the PR blogosphere has been very welcoming to the women -- like you, Andrea, Erin, Susan and others -- who have picked up the gauntlet.
Perhaps not everyone ... but I said on Susan's post, it's the same with men bloggers. There are some high-level PR bloggers who have never linked to me, commented on my blog or even acknowledged I exist.
Bottom line: If you're a woman PR pro out there and you're reading this ... give blogging a try if you're so inclined. Don't let a fear of gender issues hold you back. And send me an e-mail when you start ... I'll be happy to be the first to link to you!
I don't disagree John. You were one of the most welcoming to me when I first started. Still, the fact remains that famale voices don't loom large in the PR blog world. And like you, I think that they can and will. My article points out that as well. I do like what Susan said about having a platform. Also, you are right that non-tech bloggers (male and female) don't get picked up as well as those that are, or those that might cross over into marketing. I think that is a issue of the size of the audience.
Current, accredited PRSA member here...
What continues to bother me is that although PRSA is devoting an issue of Strategist to blogging, they have yet to utilize the tool to communicate with their members. Instead, they use bulk email to an extreme that surely gets them in many junk boxes.
I wish that the Society would begin utilizing the tools that they promote in their teleseminars. If they did, perhaps we wouldn't get 10 emails every time they have a speaker ready to talk.
John Mims; You have a very good point there and one that I think needs to be addressed. At the local level, we do have a blog, as do several other chapters. And in my role with national in advocacy, one could say I have strongly "advocated" a blog with the "powers that be."
I will keep working that angle, you can be assured.
PRSA does have RSS feeds in its Media Room, however, many in the the membership don't even know what RSS is. Education is a big step forward.
Maybe the female bloggers are not blogging about work? There seem to be more than a handful of mommy blogs written by women who are in PR...
I think Meredith has a good point. From what I can tell there are more Mommy blogs than Daddy blogs! Also, has anyone analyzed what kinds of PR people blog more often? If more men are in sectors like tech, or management positions like partner, maybe they have better career incentives to start a blog.
Meridith, Karen;
Now we are starting to talk. I suspect all of these are the case, but no, no one has done any analysis of this. I think it would make a terrific graduate thesis for someone. If anyone is searching for a thesis. However, I did look at the overall picture, versus the segmented one of bloggers on the topic of PR, and found that of the Technorati 100, only 12 percent of the list were blogs primarily authored by women. So, that included the whole universe of blogs. On the other hand, Pew says that women and men report pretty equally that they have started blogs. So, my question, or your reasearch question, should you accept it, is why?
There is so much research that could be done on the subject, and much has already been done on gender and PR, so it would be complimentary. Maybe I should go back to graduate school (lilek I have the time - ha-ha).
Karen's point is a good one.
There is no doubt that the first PR bloggers were weighted heavily toward the tech segment. They worked primarily on the coasts and many were sole practitioners.
The second wave consisted of folks like me, who aren't tech oriented but who own their own very small agencies and who anticipated that perhaps there was a marketing benefit to blogging.
The first group is heavily male; the second group probably just as much so.
There is enough of a foundation now, however, for women considering blogging to realize they have company.
On another note, you have to love the cover - BLOGS getting ready to invade the planet and all!
John; I agree that it is improving, even since I have started blogging
Leo; I see your point. However, I think that it is pretty hard to illustate the concept of blogging. As a magazine editor, I have faced that challenge before. For instance, how do you illustrate mortgage lending without resorting to the cliche piles of cash, which belive me, I have used. Any ideas on another way to illustrate the concept of blogs and social media?
Illustrators reading this post, the gauntlet is drawn!
I might have tried to communicate the idea of conversation versus invasion, but I understand your point.
Leo; Maybe thousands of talking heads? lol. Oh well, maybe the invasion is more ET than Body Snatchers.
What impresses me, and pleases me, most about these articles is I can pick a copy of the magazine and tell people, "Yeah I was talking with him over e-mail the other day."
It's good for me to see that this thing we've all been doing here is getting louder and louder. And it makes me feel good to know all of the contacts I've had, the connections and conversations I've had will so many professionals.
Before blogging, I would never even be able to send most of you and most of the people quoted in those articles an e-mail.
Hey Kami ... I just noticed on Technorati that your blog has 569 links from 212 different blogs, giving you a ranking of 10,479 in the blogosphere.
Meanwhile, I have 424 links from 135 different blogs, putting me at 17,123.
And I started blogging at least a year or so before you, right??
So what's all this about the blogosphere not embracing women bloggers??? You're way up there in the link stats!
John - What's with the link envy?!
Kami - Congrats on some well-deserved attention, particularly your article on women bloggers. I suspect the ultimate reason is a combination of a lot of the above discussion.
As easy and free as the blog tools are these days, NO ONE is at a disadvantage in starting one in my opinion. All they need is a computer and an internet connection.
Seniors are a perfect example. Very high level of penetration in the more mature set. A lot of wisdom being handed down there I suspect.
same old same old from the PRSA. Too little, too late, and too light...
Instead of always playing catchup it'd be nice to see the association actually "lead" in some area or another. I've had a hard time forgiving them since the March issue of Strategist that showed the condescending photo of the harried female PR executive that can't handle email and faxes and cellphones, oh my!
Dee; I see your point. I guess I am trying to work it from an inside angle instead of just complaining. They are volunteer driven, so if you have some ideas, please share them and help to make it better.
As for the harried executive, that is hard to forgive.
Kevin ... just gigging Kami a little about the whole "women bloggers" thing.
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