This post I will be talking about a blog that is no longer active. First off, having a corporate blog is very helpful, but it can only be successful, when it has been planned out, and taken seriously. It is better to not have a blog, than to start one and not keep up with it. In Shel Holtz post titled American Airlines’ Quiet Launch of a Crisis Blog he foreshadowed the ending of American Airlines blog, commenting on how a company should not start a blog due to a crisis. It is much better to already have a community and trust from readers beforehand. AA started their blog back in 2008 and it seems like they only wrote 3 posts because it is not longer active. Another post titled New American Airlines Blog Could Use Some Work mentions that posts from the AA blog were not updated often, not helpful and confusing to read. 
Hopefully American Airlines will start to study other airlines like Southwest and Delta who have successful blogs. It seems like American Airlines got in over their heads, and were not prepared to commit to a blog. One good thing they did do, was to deactivate their blogger account, rather having an inactive blog which would bring down their reputation even more. Holtzs also mentions how they did not even announce having a blog, so if they do start a new one, hopefully it will be linked to their homepage.
Take Away:
- Do not create a blog, for the sole purpose to better your reputation. Good reputation will come due to the fact that you created a blog for your audiences.
- Update frequently
- Proofread to make sure posts make sense
- Have relevant information
I agree that American Airlines made a huge error in starting a blog in order to handle a crisis situation, however, i think an even bigger error was the fact that they did not keep up with it. Not only is it tacky to have outdated posts, they were not giving feedback to customers that actually were commenting. Not to mention, using a blog in a crisis management situation is fine but I would think that starting one at a time like that would only reflect negatively on the company. I also agree that it was a good idea that they deactivated the dead blog and that they should jump on the bandwagon with other airlines such as Delta and Southwest that use their blogs to inform and engage stakeholders. It might even be a good idea to have a blog directly linked to an online newsroom so hat information is easy to find for media reporters as well.