Individual blogging

Individual Blogging

The critical aspect that a blogger has to remember is that blogging is not about technology, it is about people. Media is an extension of man (Marshall Mcluhan, as quoted in the podcast by Professor Ronkowitz)) this analogy is true in the case of blogging that is an extension of our thoughts and ideas. Blogs are popular because they are easy to host and maintain. The content of the blog and the number of readers, their repeated visits and entries received determine the success rate of a blog. Many bloggers prefer a friendly tone in their blogs. The following are some of the many hats a blogger has to wear:

Technical Writer – has to be clear and concise while writing. When a blogger publishes views on a particular topic, interest or subject he/she has to keep the reader in mind and make the information easy to read, understand and find. The tone of the blog is as important as the content and a technical writer should maintain consistency in the tone throughout the blog.

Reader – has to read the various posts made on the blog for relevancy, redundancy and sometimes even for errors and editing the length.
Researcher –constant research on topics related to the blog is required to keep the blog current and relevant.

Designer – has to incorporate various design elements on the blog site. Blog should be user–friendly, information accessible easily (ref:Podcast by Prof. Ronkowitz), with appropriate links and pleasant visual layout.

Subject Matter Expert – has to have thorough knowledge on the technical aspects of the blog topic and should be able to respond to technical questions raised by bloggers. This area is important where there is a high degree of technical knowledge is involved.

Marketing - is required to promote and attract user visits to the blog site. This can be done by referencing the blog site through various popular corporate blogs, advertisements, search engines and email campaigns.

House Keeping –is very important in order to maintain the sanity of the blog and to purge redundant and irrelevant information from the site. This is applicable to both individuals and corporate blog sites.

Technical - maintaining appropriate hardware and software required for blogging and hosting blog sites. This is important for corporate blog website since the web servers are usually hosted in-house.

Security - is required for the site in order to prevent users from uploading malicious files, spamming and hacking. This is critical for corporate blogging since individuals use public websites like www.blogspot.com which already addresses these issues.
Legal – aspects should be considered while publishing contents related to copyrighted materials. This aspect is critical for corporate blogging and is not an issue with individual blogging.


Sources
1. http://www.chrisg.com/10-blogging-hats/
2. Essential Blogging , by Cory Doctorow; Rael Dornfest; J. Scott Johnson; Shelley Powers; Benjamin Trott; Mena G. Trott
Publisher: O'Reilly
Pub Date: August 2002