Articles

Blogging Etiquette

by Richard Lawrence SEO

Have you ever thought about why blogging has become so popular? Enter the word blog into a search engine and the results are overwhelming. The phenomenon known as blogging has become one of the fastest growing functions of the Internet. He is an advocate of free speech, an opportunity to imprint our thoughts and ultimately our individual selves into that vast unknown entity called cyberspace. The blog makes us part of the Internet. It might be a tiny portion, but our blogs establish and affirm our presence in cyberspace.


My blog was born on March 24, 2005. I had no idea how the seed I planted would grow, nor where it would go. Today I read my first posts and I see that he has not changed radically in the first ten months of his life. I think it has gotten a little more sophisticated ... but that's just my humble opinion! The inspiration for that first entry was the announcement of the cellphone ringtone on VH1, featuring the character Crazy Frog. Two days later I wrote about Easter in Greece. I followed that up with a piece on the WDC review. The fourth entry was about news channels on TV and the last was about Zimbabwe.


When I look at the beginning of my blog, I see that it is like a diary. The first questions concerned the trial of Michael Jackson, Terri Schiavo, Prince Rainier of Monaco and the elections in Zimbabwe. I sit here, amazed that all these things happened almost a year ago - where did the time go? And without my blog I wouldn't have a record of the events and how they made me feel at the time. I suggest you all go back to the first few posts on your blog. You will likely find that your writing has become more confident and streamlined over time. Mine certainly does.


Blogs are representative of their writers. They reflect our thoughts, our minds and our attitude at a given moment. They are also a permanent record of events at that time. The only limitation of a blog is your mind: to what extent are you willing to let go of your mind and how much of yourself are you willing to reveal? You can write on any topic that interests you and orient your writing in any direction. Bottom line: How much of yourself are you willing to share with the World Wide Web?


This brings me to the most important feature of the blog: the readers.


They are the reason for the rapid growth of the blogging phenomenon. Without readers, blogs would not exist: they would be personal journals or journals kept under lock and key. Comments and contributions to our contributions feed the blog, inspire our contributions and help it grow. I find that the feedback I get encourages me to keep writing. The same goes for the pckart blogs I read and contribute to. I can't tell you how many blogs have inspired one of my entries. Over time, a blogger develops a fairly close relationship with repeat readers, and how those relationships are maintained is important if you want your blog to grow.


I recently read a post on an external blog where a blogger claimed that he didn't care what kind of comments his blog drew. The reason for him: "contributing people are not my type of people". My answer - and I even posted it - was, "So why are you blogging? Keep a private diary if you don't want or need the interaction of other Internet users." After I stopped reading his blog about him, and when I checked yesterday I saw that he is still writing, but he has removed the offensive entry!


Those who take the time to read a comment on a blog are people, whether we agree with their opinion or not. I know, the difference is that in cyberspace we communicate with a screen that replaces the face of a real physical presence. But that doesn't mean we should lose our manners! Someone who has read a post that impressed him enough to want to write a comment deserves some respect, even if his opinion is at odds with ours. Think about how you would respond to that person if they were physically in front of you before you put your fingers on the keyboard and hit enter. Words typed and sent in anger are even more harmful than the spoken word, because a record remains black and white for as long as the blogger chooses.


Let's put the shoe on the other foot for a moment and consider our response to a submission that we find offensive. Perhaps it goes against our moral, political or religious beliefs. It can also be written in a way that we personally find offensive



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About Richard Lawrence Advanced   SEO

65 connections, 5 recommendations, 301 honor points.
Joined APSense since, March 26th, 2019, From New York Mills, MN 56567, USA, United States.

Created on Mar 8th 2022 04:46. Viewed 187 times.

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