For the mother of a new baby, blogging is likely to be the last thing on her mind. Taking care of an infant is an almost incredible amount of work, and between changing diapers and putting the final touches on the nursery, it seems unrealistic to imagine that there would be time left over for any mother to blog. However, a growing number of new moms are joining the blogosphere to share their experiences during this exciting time of life. There is a whole range of benefits that new mothers can reap from blogging, and the spectrum covers everything from getting through the night to helping distant relatives feel closer.
Among the reasons why, for a mom dealing with the hassles and triumphs of a baby, blogging is a great idea, is that having a blog about motherhood is a great way to blow off some steam. Babies often have very erratic sleep patterns that leave parents up at odd hours of the night, and sometimes the best way to fill those hours is on the internet. Many new moms turn to television to help them weather these dawn vigils, but by blogging through the night moms can turn what feels like a somewhat depressing situation into an actively positive and productive one.
Another reason why new moms often find blogging very satisfying is that it helps them to be a part of a community. For moms who are not able to successfully juggle a full social life with the very tough demands of taking care of a new baby, blogging can be a great way to stave off the isolation that sometimes comes with this stage of life.
A baby requires constant attention, and it can be difficult to attend social gatherings or events when you are responsible for an infant. Luckily, the blogosphere is full of other moms in the same situation, and by chatting with them it is possible to overcome some of the loneliness that many new mothers are surprised to encounter.
Of course, for a mom with an adorable new baby, blogging can be as much about celebration as it is about necessity. Having a blog about living with a new child can give mothers the chance to reflect on how powerful and warm the sensation of motherhood is, and sometimes sharing the triumphs of this unique time can make them even sweeter.
A blog is a great way to keep friends and family updated with news about your baby's first words or first steps, and with new technology it is easier than ever to make photos and video clips a part of your blog, so you can give far-away relatives the chance to feel much more involved in your child's life.
22 June 2009
Your New Baby, Blogging, and Modern Motherhood
Labels: BloggingWhat Is a Blogging Tory?
The term Blogging Tory refers to any one of the many authors affiliated with the conservative Canadian community known as The Blogging Tories. Today, there are over a hundred and fifty text-based blogs associated with the group, and there are new Blogging Tories every day. The Tories stand as an inspiring example of a successful online community where the ever-increasing numbers of affiliated members enjoy a fertile environment for discussion and debate about the ideas that shape the face of Canada.
The majority of Tory bloggers do make political events and topics the focus of their blogs, but not all of the content that a Blogging Tory creates and publishes is overtly related to the movements of the Canadian parliament or the prime minister. Although the community members were brought together by a shared conservative viewpoint, the fact that not all of the postings on all of the member's blogs focus on political topics is one of the most exciting things about the Blogging Tories.
On any given day, the main website's blogroll may feature postings about Olympic medalists, a James Bond film festival in Quebec, or a comical personal experience with a telemarketer. The idea that having a political affiliation in common makes it possible to have a fruitful discussion about other kinds of topics has interesting implications for how online communities are established and how they grow.
Using A Free Blogging Web Site
easy to find a way to blog for free is one of the reasons why so many people who have never had any other kind of web presence before find themselves drawn to blogging.
By signing up with a free blogging web site, you may find it easier to get listed in search engines that you would if you were starting your own blog from scratch. For example, google runs the free blog hosting site blogspot and crawls its pages very often looking for updates, so if you have your site hosted by blogspot you are almost guaranteed to be listed on google's blog search engine. This easy access to search engines can take some of the work out of promoting your blog, and can help you gain a following with a minimum of marketing effort.
If your blog attracts a large readership, you may want to consider moving your site. Many people feel that being hosted by a free blogging web site gives a blog a kind of amateur flavor that is fine for a new member of the blogosphere, but is not appropriate for a high-profile blog. Having your own domain can help you make your blog feel professional, and finding a company that will host your domain is not difficult or expensive.
Once your blog takes off, you will probably be able to sell enough advertising space to be able to afford to buy a domain and pay for a hosting package, and still have money left over. However, it does not make sense in most cases to invest in these glossy luxuries before you have a sizable readership.
Starting your blog on a free blogging web site is a great way to build a following before you spend any money on your blog. If and when your blog becomes popular and you are ready to take the next step and purchase your own domain, your readers will follow you to your new home. The fact that it is possible to use a free blog host like blogspost, blogger, or eponym as a kind of incubator for your blog is great news for bloggers everywhere.
To Join a Blogging Site or Not to Join
In addition, these sites provide a kind of instant community of fellow bloggers who can provide advice, insight, and feedback. These established sites often keep directories of their members, which can be great news for your traffic logs because it means that other bloggers on the site will find out about your pages.
However, there are also some downsides to linking up with a large blogging site. By posting within the established templates of a site like blogger, you run the risk of having your blog look and feel like everybody else's.
The blogging movement is very much about the creation of distinctive sites and the development of individual voices, so it makes plenty of sense that many bloggers would shy away from the cookie-cutter look and feel that these blogging sites often promote.
Many bloggers feel that the content of a blog is what makes it distinctive, not the look of the blog, but many members of the blogging community feel that the visual impact of a blog should match the originality of the writing.
The Right Blogging Platform For Your Needs
Deciding what your priorities are in terms of ease of use versus customization. Most highly customizable blogging platforms, like moveable type, are a bit more difficult to use than very automated platforms like wordpress. If you are new to blogs and to internet technology, you might want to sacrifice the ability to create a custom background design or to integrate a unique font into your template in order to find a program that will be easy for you to use. On the other hand, if you are a veteran web designer with knowledge of html or javascript, you will probably find the limitations of a user-friendly platform to be frustrating.
There is no such thing as a blogging platform that is objectively the best platform, because every blogger has unique needs. The blogging movement is very much about individuality, so it makes plenty of sense that there would be many different platforms available that are designed to meet the needs of different kinds of individuals undertaking different kinds of projects. This diversity is a good thing, because it means that you will almost certainly be able to find a program that suits your level of technical aptitude.
However, the fact that no two bloggers need the same thing from a blogging platform can make your search for the right platform a bit tricky. When you are reading reviews of different platforms, try to keep your priorities in mind and do your best to take into account the position that the reviewer is coming from.
For example, a negative review written by an accomplished software designer who complains that a popular platform is too limited may tell you that the platform in question is ideal for a beginning blogger. There is no such thing as the perfect platform for everybody, so instead of looking for the "best" platform, look for the best platform for your specific criteria.
The Pros and Cons of Video Blogging
get.
Of course, there are plenty of disadvantages to video blogging as well. Hosting a v-blog requires quite a bit of server space, which can make it difficult to get started. It takes more time to process and upload a video file than it does to dash off a quick bit of text, which means that running and updating a video blog can be quite a bit of work.
In addition, web surfers sometimes grow frustrated with the slow loading times of the files on many video blogs. Whether you opt for a video blog or not depends on what kind of subject matter you want to cover, and how much time you can devote to video blogging. Before you decide to pursue a video blog, consider if there is an easier way for you to get yourmessage across.
The Exciting New Frontier Of Professional Blogging
Many bloggers dream of entering the sphere of professional blogging. There are very few people who happily devote an hour or more each day to their blog without at least occasionally wishing that they could earn some kind of financial reward for all of their work. Several models exist for making money with a blog, the most popular being to sell advertising space through Google's AdSense program or directly to a company that wishes to reach the demographic that your blog appeals to. However, there are very few people indeed who can make a comfortable living just by selling space on their blog sidebars.
A lot of the people who read weblogs are bloggers themselves, in part because of the fact that the people who use blogging technology on a daily basis are most likely to be interested in what other writers are doing with the medium. This fact begins to explain why the people who succeed in the world of professional blogging are mostly people who have devoted themselves almost entirely to learning about, talking about, and writing about blogging.
More than any other topic, pro bloggers turn their attention to the phenomenon of blogging itself. A lot of pro bloggers make the topic of blogging the stunningly self-reflexive on going focus of their blogs.
Of course, professional blogging is destined to become much more complicated in the future than it is today. In the current moment, pro bloggers who attract the largest audiences and make the most money are mostly concerned with investigating the blogging movement and with offering advice to amateur bloggers.
However, as the kinds of people who regularly read blogs changes, and the demographics of bloggers expand and diversify as blogging software becomes more user friendly, it is very likely indeed that the world of pro blogging will begin to reflect these changes. Indeed, it is very difficult to predict exactly what kinds of blogs will be reaping the greatest financial rewards five or ten years down the road. The world of pro blogging is one of constant change and flux, which is part of what makes it so exciting.
The Definition of Blogging
Today, there are an abundance of photo blogs, and there are even video blogs as well. Mobile blogging devices may well change the definition of blogging entirely by making it possible for bloggers to create new kinds of posts. Another element of the blogosphere that is starting to redefine blogging is the corporate blog.
As more companies hire writers to keep blogs with the sole purpose of creating positive buzz about their brand, bloggers across the globe are arguing about whether these manufactured blogs are really worthy of the name. Between all of these different forces that are constantly expanding and reshaping the blogosphere, it is difficult to imagine that the definition of what is and is not a blog will ever remain fixed for very long.
The Controversy Around Corporate Blogging
These blogs are often created to appeal to the demographic that the company needs to court, and the content may have quite a lot to do with the activities of the corporation, or it may have very little to do with the company itself. Often, a corporate blog will focus on the kinds of content likely to attract the desired surfers, even if that content is not related to the product or service that the company provides.
Some bloggers feel that corporate blogging is a kind of validation for the blogging movement, and shows that this exciting new medium has really infiltrated the mainstream. Other bloggers consider the kind of viral marketing that corporate blogs practice to be unethical or distasteful. In any case, watching the evolution of corporate blogs and whether they survive and proliferate or fail and disappear promises to provide some interesting insight into today's consumers.
Picking The Best Free Blogging Site
Choosing a free blogging site can feel overwhelming because there are so many options. There are several large free blog-hosting sites that dominate the blogosphere, but there are also smaller sites. Whether you decide to join up with an established site like blogger or whether you choose to sign on with a relatively new venture depends on what your priorities are.
Reliability is perhaps the best reason to opt for a large and well known free blogging site. When you choose to have an established brand host your blog, you can feel secure that your blog will not crash often and will not disappear in the middle of the night. A company that has been around for a while is likely to have the resources to make sure that its clients aren't unpleasantly surprised by any technical glitches.
20 June 2009
Photo Blogging May be the Pinnacle of Modern Technology
Labels: BloggingMany people who run image blogs are photographers by trade, but photo blogging is also very popular among hobbyists and amateur shutterbugs. To be certain, a lot of the most popular photo blogs have gained attention because the pictures on them are of the highest artistic caliber, and a lot of the people who run these striking blogs are graduates of prestigious art schools and have impressive professional portfolios.
However, some of the most well known and most often visited photo blogs are as notable for their concepts as for the pictures themselves. Certain photo blogs, like the popular "Cute Overload" which features picture after picture of adorable animals, are more about the thematic content of the pictures than they are about the style in which the snapshots are taken.
The fact that photo blogs range from forums to display the work of highly skilled artisans to playful collections of curiosities shows that photo blogging is a truly diverse form. The fact that photo blogs are so easy to build and to update makes this kind of visual communication very democratic, and enables people at all skill levels to become a part of the global conversation about the nature and value of photography today.
Whether you are an artist or hobbyist who wants to create a photo blog, or whether you are just somebody who enjoys learning about new places and things, spending some time looking at the most popular photography blogs on the internet can be a very rewarding endeavor. You can travel to another place or another time by seeing pictures of faraway locations and long-gone eras.
You can see your own neighborhood with fresh eyes by discover how local artists have photographed the town or city in which you live. Photo blogging allows people to communicate all of these things and more, which makes it a very exciting part of the modern blogosphere. If the best thing about web technology is that it allows people to reach each other in a very personal way from across great distances, then in many ways photo blogs are the most successful kind of web sites.
Personal Blogging, Documentary, and History
For many years, the act of making a documentary was meant to be an objective act of reporting the sights and sounds that the filmmaker, writer, or photographer encountered. However, in contemporary times there has been a movement towards embracing the subjectivity inherent in the documentary form. This means that modern documentaries often reflect the distinctive voice and sensibility of their creator, and the fact that todays documentaries often revolve around personality blurs the lines between documentary and memoir. Blogs rest somewhere between these two genres, muddying the distinctions even further. Personal blogging, documentary, and memoir are now irrevocably intertwined, for better or for worse.
Although few bloggers think of themselves as making documentaries in any formal sense, every time somebody sits down in front of a computer and types up a record of their day, they are documenting their own historical moment. The things that we take for granted about our daily lives, like the way that we use specific modes of transportation, or the kinds of products that
we buy, often seem quite fascinating to people who live in circumstances different from ours, and it is this kind of fascination that is at the heart of many documentary projects.
When people think about blogging, documentary is not very likely to be the first adjective that crosses their minds, but a few decades down the road it is very likely that todays blogs will be seen primarily as very subjective documentaries of our era. The people of tomorrow will almost certainly look to the blogs of today for insight into our historical moment.
When it comes to blogging, documentary may not be the aim of most people who spend their time posting their thoughts and ideas on the internet. In some ways, the documentary aspect of blogging is more of a side effect than a primary goal. However, the fact that so many people are interested in publishing these public online diaries shows that personal blogs are about more than just rumination.
The fact that bloggers are so stimulated by and interested in sharing their ideas with each other reinforces the idea that personal blogs are, in some ways, documentaries meant for public consumption. Documentaries appeal to people who are
curious about other ways of life, and many people who regularly read others personal blogs are looking for this same kind of new perspective.
Mobile Blogging Is On The Cutting Edge
Many people feel that the limitations of blogging have a lot to do with geography. After all, there is only so current that a blog can be when you need to run home and boot up in order to update it. However, mobile blogging marks the beginning of an thrilling new era when web-based communication can happen spontaneously from any location. Moblogging devices mean that there is almost nowhere on the planet that remains off-limits for bloggers.
Mobile blogging is still in its infancy because the technology that makes it possible has only recently hit the global market. The first moblog technology became available over a decade ago, but it is only the past two or three years that mobile web devices have become user-friendly enough to appeal to most consumers. As camera phones and other mobile technology become more popular, more and more bloggers are getting away from their desks and are hitting the streets.
Moblogging is becoming much more widespread that it was even a few months ago, and mobloggers are quickly attracting a lot of attention with the blogging community. It is not yet clear whether moblogs will become the dominant kinds of blogs in the years to come, but the current trend seems to imply that moblogs are here to stay.
Mobile devices make it possible to blog from the sites where current events are unfolding, which is one of the reasons why mobile blogging has so much thrilling potential to revolutionize the blogosphere. A moblogger with a camera phone can post blog entries from, say, the foot of the podium at a presidential speech, or from the stands during the final moments of the world series.
This enables bloggers to experience the same real time thrills that live television coverage provides, but in a more democratic medium. The combination of mobility and individual control that moblogging provides certainly places mobloggers on the cutting edge of today's communications technology, and it is hard to imagine that the number and prestige of moblogs will not continue to grow in the coming years.
If You are Already Blogging, Money May be Just a Click Away
Of course, even for people who have spent months or years blogging, money from advertising revenue may not add up to a large sum. The amount of money that you can make as a blogger depends on a lot of different factors, but perhaps the most important element of the equation is the topic of your blog.
If your blog is on a subject that appeals to a demographic that advertisers have a strong desire to reach, you will be more likely to be able to turn a large profit on your blog than if your blog is on a fairly obscure subject that does not draw
the kind of audience that advertisers need to appeal to. Of course, the only way to find out where you fall on this spectrum is to try hosting some ads. If you are already blogging, you have nothing to lose.
How to Learn Blogging Software
If you are somebody who feels comfortable expressing themselves in another medium, it may prove to be well worth your time and effort to learn blogging software, but that doesn't mean that the task will be easy.
The main thing that will help you find success as you learn how to use a new kind of blogging software is to try and take things slowly. Many people get so excited about learning to blog that they try to rush into the thick of it and start exploring the most complicated features of a program right away.
This can lead to getting confused and feeling frustrated, and all too many potential bloggers burn out during this stage of the process. If you take your time learning the basics of your blog software program before you move on to more advanced techniques, you will be more likely to retain what you have learned, and to keep feeling positive about your ability to understand the world of blogging.
Choosing The Right Free Blogging Tools
It is a great idea to learn about all of the kinds of free blogging tools that are available so that you can make an informed decision about what to add to your blog, but try to remember that just because you can have something doesn't mean that you need it. Practice restraint and only choose the options that you think will really be useful.
If you can find out how many visitors are reading your blog by checking your traffic statistics, a visitor counter is likely to add unnecessary clutter to your page. If your blog is text-based, a flashy background can be more of a distraction than an benefit.
Be realistic about assessing what kinds of blog accessories will help you realize your vision and improve your site. Remember that even a blog tool that doesn't cost you any cash may not be an asset in the long run.
Blogging Teens
One of the reasons why blogs have undergone a kind of explosion in the teen community and are growing by leaps and bounds is the fact that they provide a unique mixture of visibility and anonymity. A teenager can invite friends and peers to read his or her blog with a simple email, thereby winning attention or possibly even praise.
Of course, with visibility usually comes the possibility of embarrassment, but the fact that it is possible to blog anonymously with an invented handle or nickname negates a lot of the potential for humiliation. Many a blogging teen lives in fear that a parent or guardian will discover his or her blog, but by publishing under an alias a teenager can spill his or her secrets without fear of being traced.
Outside the world of blogging, teen writers often have very limited opportunities to be published. Magazines and journals are often reticent to publish young writers who may not have as much credibility as older writers with a lot of experience and extensive credits to their names. This can discourage adolescents from writing or from seeking chances to publish their work.
By blogging, young people can begin to gain a following of readers without first having to win the attention and support of an editor or publisher who may not be very interested in teenaged authors.
Between the fact that blogs provide young people with a chance to exercise their impressive technical aptitude, to gain visibility without compromising privacy, and to build a readership for their writing without having to jump through the traditional hoops of the publishing industry, it is little wonder that are so many teenagers with blogs.
For some teenagers, blogging is even a very social endeavor that allows them to meet people with similar interests from all over the world. Many a blogging teen has discovered that having a weblog on the internet is a great way to explore self-expression and, often, to win positive feedback from new friends.
07 June 2009
Blogging News Stories as They Happen
Labels: BloggingOne of the most notable cases of news hitting a blog before appearing in other media took place in July 2005 when terrorism struck London. As passengers were evacuated from a subway car near an explosion, one man took several photographs of the scene with his cellular phone, and within an hour these images were posted online.
First-person accounts of the catastrophe began appearing on blogs soon after these photos appeared, and people all over the world learned about the events in London by reading the words and seeing the photos posted by bloggers.
The fact that these stories and images were being spread directly by individuals operating without the added filter of a reporter helped to make the crisis feel very immediate to people across the globe. When it comes to blogging, news often appears in a very personal context. This has the potential to be the beginning of an exciting new era of reporting, one that takes "New Journalism" to it's logical next step by putting the power to shape how the news is written and read directly into the hands of the public.
Many bloggers and cultural commentators who are champions of the weblog movement feel that this growing trend of individuals who getting their news from blogs is a good thing, because it makes the flow of information more democratic. By decentralizing the control of news, blogs allow more voices to enter the field of debate about important current events. However, many people are adamantly opposed to the use of blogs as news outlets, and there are plenty of good arguments on this side of the debate.
Unlike newspapers or television stations, few blogs have fact-checkers, and there is little attention paid to journalistic accountability on many blogs. This can lead to the rapid spread of misinformation, and more than one falsehood has taken the blogosphere by storm. The questions about whether blogging news as it happens is ethical or not are very complicated, but no matter where you stand on the topic of current events blogs you are almost sure to agree that this movement has the potential to revolutionize how modern people get their news.
Blogging For Business Owners
Blogging for business owners has a lot in common with all other types of blogging, but it has its own unique pitfalls and strengths. The key to having a successful blog as a business owner is keeping your goals clear and concrete at every step of your blogging adventure.
It can be all to easy to get sidetracked, especially if you are just learning about the exciting possibilities of blogging technology, but if you want your blog to succeed you need to stay focused. Write up a plan for how often you will update, how you will promote your blog and retain readers, whether you will feature photographs or video, and other aspects of your blog,
and then stick to it with the same kind of determination that you used when you built your company.
Blogging: Consolidation, Debt, and New Information Technology
For people who have a knack for dealing with finances, blogging about their insights and knowledge can be a great way to literally and figuratively share the wealth.
If you are considering getting into blogging, consolidation, debt, savings, and investment topics can prove to be very fruitful things to write about. Many professional bloggers who make a living off of their blogs spend their days writing about money. If you know how to court advertisers and build a blog fan base, you can make money just by talking about money.
If you are familiar with loan consolidation, negotiating settlements with credit card companies, or any other financial topics, consider using your knowledge to create a successful blog. By sharing your expertise, you may be able to help your readers get out of debt while you reap sizable monetary rewards for your time and knowledge.
