Dear blog...

This is a blog about blogging- sounds a bit inbred doesn’t it!

Only the other week I was being told that the blog is a dying breed and that the internet is awash with unused blogs - the ‘jetsam and flotsam’ of the cyber world. It seems that millions of people got caught up in blogmania and dabbled with blogs, only to abandon them after a few months.

Having only just recently got to grips with my own blog, this disturbed me somewhat, and I was relieved when this week Adam Tinworth, head of blogging for Reed Business Information, stressed the importance of blogging for widening the internet conversation.

And that made me think; even if the number of bloggers is slowing down, there will always be new bloggers, just like there is always new writers.

What’s also being over looked is that other forms of social media are also growing rapidly. For many, social networks like Facebook and microblogging tools are taking the place of personal blogs. Once again we are faced with the question ‘What is the definition of a blog?’

When I started out, I imagined a blog to be a kind of online diary, a personal pulpit to express my thoughts and opinions. Oh, how naïve I was. Tinworth explained that blogs that are purely opinion tend to FAIL. Great, my blog and I were not off to a flying start.

So, I hear you asking, what is the secret to a successful blog?

The blog must cover two key things:

1. Conversation – discussing topics of mutual interest
2. Be interesting – links, photos, discussions, opinions

If you want a good blog you have to first of all find a niche, be enthusiastic, have a range of content and post regularly. (The last I must admit, is a major hurdle of mine). According to Technorati (the blog tracking people) the best bloggers post 4 or 5 times per day!

Once the blog material is up to scratch, you must link it to the wider web conversation. Tinworth explained the three ‘spaces of the internet’:

1. Private space – Content is hidden. E.g. social networks, members only forums
2. Public space – Open to all but hosts have control. E.g. forums, comment sites
3. Distributed space – Traffic moves freely. E.g. wikis, microblogging

If your blog is to be successful, you have to try and link it to all three of these spaces.



And that is it in a nutshell- Happy Blogging!

Image courtesy of monicaA @ flickr.com