How To Make Blog Contents Attractive

With all the new web technologies and media available today, creating a blog is quite similar to creating a portfolio or a resume; it has to stand out, and it has to be visually appealing. Readers are as similar to the HR personnel reviewing your documents, if it's just like any other, perhaps you will not get a follow up in the future; on the other hand, if it's interesting and it is something of value, you may just get a reader, or a job interview.

1) Define the niche
A blog must have a defined niche in which to operate from; for instance, a blog that features reviews on sports cars, cooking blogs, and so on. a blog needs to maintain it's posts within the context of its niche.

2) Communicate information and cater them appropriately
Depending on the type of niche, a blog should also cater it's media appropriately. I.e. A photography blog without many photos would be rather pointless. Other media such as videos, downloads, music would be a bonus.

3) Add a human touch to the blog
When the blogger adds a personal touch to a blog it allows its readers to feel closer and more attached to the blog. This can be done by posting replies to comments, or even chatting with readers.

4) Consistency of posts
Important issue is the consistency and continuation of the blog posts that will ultimately lead to an attractive blog. A reader would not be adding a blog which last blog post was 1 year ago to their RSS feed.

References
http://www.bloggingpro.com/archives/2012/10/15/how-to-create-quality-attractive-blog-content/

http://www.copyblogger.com/create-content-infographic/

The Death of Traditional Blogs by Micro-blogging?

It has come to the attention of bloggers that the introduction of micro-blogs has indeed vastly reduced the usage of traditional blogs. Micro-blogs aka Social networks are less tedious to maintain than traditional blogs. In which they do not require its owners to do much rather than simply sharing things - majority of them would only provide a text box and upload media button; todays most popular microblogging website would be Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest. (Social Media Today, 2014)

The more important question to ask is if micro-blogging will in fact result in traditional blogs to totally fade out in the near future. While it is highly probable that micro-blogs have caused the drop in traditional blog usage (Technorati), it is important to note their very core purposes. In my opinion, micro-blogs; due to its less heavy contents, are used more so as to share things with friends - which comes to notion social network; as it is used for establishing and maintaining relations. What more due to its popularity, using social networks have simply become too convenient and are simply effective and efficient to use for social purposes.

On the other hand, traditional blogs are more heavy on content whereby it is usually lengthier as it usually addresses an opinion, view, or something of sharing by its owner. Traditional blogs would usually encompass a more defined niche in which its posts would operate from. I.e. Politics, Cooking, Self-development, Life-adventures.

To conclude, micro-blogging will not cause the ultimate downfall of traditional blogs - rather significantly reduce the usage due to a minute amount suited for more defined interests. Traditional blogs will continue to flourish in whichever interest niche it operates from as there will continue to be people who will want to spend time reading more in depth information on their interests.

References
http://technorati.com/business/article/technorati-medias-2013-digital-influence-report
http://socialmediatoday.com/docmarkting/1964291/2014s-hottest-social-media-sites

The Benefits of Blogs to Communities

Today, man kind has reached a level whereby communication technologies present are at levels unimaginable to people 20 years back. Such has occured with the introduction of the world wide web (WWW); a virtual domain whereby people could use to communicate and share information. Within the past 10 years, a popular notion called blog has become a trend. A blog could be summarized as a virtual diary, and potentially even a public domain for sharing information; is available easily as it is free-or-cheap to maintain.

The following are the benefits a blog can bring to a society:-

1) Blogs allow the freedom of information of different perspectives on the world wide web - assuming the country that it is hosted in allows for freedom of information.

I.e. Political blogs are able to express their opinions, general people are able to express their views on current issues.

2) Blogs are a new avenue for people to pursue their interests and share it to the world.

I.e. Blogs such as kennysia.com, xiaxue.blogspot.com are examples of very successful South East Asian blogs that has a very big following, this allowed the blogger to start their own unique career.

The following are the drawbacks a blog can bring to a society:-

1) Freedom of information can be a double-edged sword. With the overload of information available on the internet, blogs (which may be bias in opinions) may cause misinformation to the readers whom are unable to view other perspectives - this is apparent in political blogs.

2) Uninformed or unaware bloggers may over-share their personal life - as blogs are popularly deemed as online diaries, there are tendencies for bloggers to overly express themselves which may cause problems within their personal privacy.

Citations

Lai, Chih-Hui 2011, ‘A multifaceted perspective on blogs and society: examples of blogospheres in Southeast and East Asia’, Journal of International Communication,  Vol 17, Issue 1, 51-72.

http://kennysia.com

http://xiaxue.blogspot.com