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War reporting - whether factual or literary - has an illustrious history with some big names dominating the battlefront, from Robert Capa in the Spanish Civil War and Edward Murrow in World War II to our own Kate Adie and Martin Bell covering more recent conflicts.

But now, through the advent of blogging technology - you know, that thing that turns punter into publisher overnight - stories from the front can come directly from the keyboards of those fighting the war.

Such is the case of Colour Sergeant Michael Saunders - featured in the above BBC clip - whose blog posts from Afghanistan are being posted physically by his sister, Tracey Tyrls, in the Worcester pub where she works.

Apparently the blogs are well read by the drinkers and, as one customer says, they really “brings home what day to day life is like” in Helmand province.

Clearly, the content of Sergeant Saunders’ blogs will be what the Ministry of Defence will consider fit to print, and rightly so when soldiers’ lives are on the line.

But this instance of communication is instructive for businesses too: having a blog that enables you to communicate from the front line of your business activities hands you the opportunity to talk to your customers in a way unfettered by traditional media. Not that media coverage of your press releases and commentary is undesirable - in fact, third party filtering of your company’s claims to fame by journalists can carry added credibility. But with a blog, your corporate voice has licence to have an authenticity, personality and candour that gives your business the human touch.

And, as in the case of Tracey Tyrls, why not share your blog posts in a physical form by sticking them up on the notice board - as not everyone working in UKplc is glued to a computer screen all day.

Valeria Maltoni over at the Conversation Agent blog has a useful summary of corporate blogging dos and don’ts, along with examples of corporate blogs to whet your literary whistle.

Think of it as part of your business’s battle plan where, mercifully, you are building and protecting your company’s reputation rather than dodging mortar fire.

2009 is supposed to be the year more companies finally decide that social media is not just for the kids, but as integral a part of business as having a call centre, buying ad space, sending out news stories, etc.

But how should the bigger companies and brands - often steeped in a particular way of marketing themselves - make best use of the new tools and ways of working?

First things first: while there are new tools (Twitter, Facebook, et al), many of the ways of working are not so new; they are just being delivered in a different way. Listening to customers and meeting their needs - it’s been going on a lot longer than we have.

Valeria Maltoni’s Conversation Age blog gives a good appraisal of how companies should be responding to the “diminishing returns from traditional marketing”.

She talks about being able to read “digital body language” - how consumers behave online - and how business needs to recognise that control of the buying decision is now very much in the hands of the buyer.

Maltoni also highlights the importance of the impression companies make online, creating compelling content, measuring interaction and being willing to give to online communities rather than aspiring to control them.

One of the comments on her post, from social media monitoring firm, Radian6’s David Alston, emphasises that the principles that work online have been present for some time offline. He cites the example of an effective clothes shop salesperson who reads the customer well enough to know when to approach and how to be helpful, so heightening the chance of a sale - or, at very least, a conversation.

In its simplest form, effective online interaction with your audience could be deemed as “kindness”. BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week debated a new book on the subject - “On Kindness” by psychoanalyst, Adam Philips - which suggests that, in our society, being kind has become a sort of guilty pleasure rather than an instinctive response. The book says the preferable route is having a “sympathetic identification” with others.

Without wanting to - heaven forbid - come over all touchy feely, isn’t that the essence of social media? And when companies grasp that, is it not a more commercially beneficial approach to the “non-engagement policy” mentioned in some recent PR Media Blog comments?

Whether you are at the point of unravelling the myths of social media  or not, it’s certainly time to participate.