Blogging

=Blogging=

What is it? what has it been?
Blogging is a form of online self-publication on subject matter chosen by authors working either independently or collaboratively. "Blogs" are diverse in nature, and can be characterized as personal, professional, journalistic, creative, political, memoirs, recording, etc., revealing that blogs (regardless of subject matter), have the possibility to reach large audiences.

Most blogs are free to set up and use, but may be upgraded for a fee.

Strategies for successful blogging: rhetorical, media ecological (i.e. how to get noticed, in addition to good blogging).
A successful blogger should have at least two blogs. The content on both blogs can be the same, but operating two blogs allows the blogger to reach more readers on separate blogging platforms. If a blogger is really ambitious he/she might have a Tumblr, Wordpress, Blogger, Xanga, Salon, etc. Utilizing as many platforms as possible to get their message out into the blog-o-sphere.

Readers need to find blogs in order to read them, so a successful blogger should spread the word about new blog posts utilizing several different forms of new new media. Links should be posted on Facebook, Google+, Reddit, Digg, Twitter, and any other social network available. Spreading the word about your blog using a large variety of social networking is important so that as many people as possible can see your blog. The more social networks you use to promote your blog, the better chance you have of more people seeing it. It can also be helpful to set up a feed, perhaps to Facebook or Twitter, so that every time you update your blog, it is automatically posted to one of these social networks. This will save you time because you won't have to manually post about your new blog posts.

Find a niche audience. Scan forums and chat rooms and other blogs for potential readers. Comment on blogs that have similar content to yours. Always provide a link to your blog. Another way to attract visitors to your blog is to use phrases or words that are likely to be searched in Google. One of our class members has repeatedly received visitors to a post that involved the names of two YouTube scholars, including at least one of the scholars himself.

The way that blogs are written also play a role in the success of a blog. Writing style is important for successful blogging. Although the appropriate writing style will vary based on the blog's topic, the style of a blog should stay consistent once it is established. All blogs should be free of errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Blogs should also be careful to relate truthful information. Like any other written work, plagiarism should be avoided by giving credit to the original authors of ideas. It is good practice to integrate links to sources into the body of the blog using linked text.

A variety of blogging platforms may be used to start a blog. While all platforms offer the same basic features, each has it's own unique characteristics and a different "feel."
 * Blog Platforms**

Examples of blogging platforms: [|Wordpress] [|Blogger] [|Tumblr] [|Livejournal] [|Movable Type] [|Squarespace] [|TypePad]