OF LATE, I’ve met (not in the literal sense) more people through blogs. Yes, blogs are now part of an emerging digital lifestyle. As one friend-writer who now lives in the US puts it: “I treat it more as a sounding board for my thoughts and predilections.” (Thanks Arvin for the quote.)
I’ve been blogging for over two years. I’ve met musicians, writers, journalists, animators, photographers, politicians, and interesting people I never imagined meeting in a more traditional setting. Of course, I’m also a journalist so that’s an added bonus. Bloggers like journalists document life. Bloggers are sometimes called citizen journalists.
Social networking services like Friendster, MySpace and Facebook, among others, have incorporated blogs. This is because people who want to connect to you also want to find out what you’re thinking. And for some people, blogging is one way of “thinking out loud” in cyberspace. Sometimes though expect off-the-cuff remarks from a wiseguy. So yes, if you blog, you’ll end up knowing more people. What a neat way to make friends (sometimes enemies, too).
Here are some ideas to make more friends through blogs. If you have more, post a comment or send me an e-mail at erwin[dot]oliva[at]gmail[dot]com.
- Post a comment. The best way to start a conversation is to initiate one. Posting a comment on another blog will do the trick. But be courteous. And if possible, identify yourself. Point them back to your blog.
- Link me, link you. Remember the line from the movie Jerry McGuire, “Help me, help you.” Well, I think this same principle applies to blogging. You can increase your visibility by linking to other people. You can do this by including them in your blogroll or by simply citing them in some related postings.
- Connect to people. I borrowed this tip from Copyblogger’s Aristotle’s Top 3 tips for Effective Blogging. Like journalism and writing, you should think about your readers. Less of the self. Connect to your readers. In that way, you can keep their attention a lot longer. Remember another blog is a few clicks away.
If you have more tips, shoot me an e-mail at erwin[dot]oliva[at]gmail[dot]com or post a comment.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Blogs enable people of similar interest, passion and thoughts to connect.
A great way express your out of the box thoughts a stereotyped world.
March 9th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
the pitfall of this if taken too far is when the blogger starts pandering to the crowd instead of expressing himself honestly.
mlq3 made a good case about this in iBlog 2 — “you are the sole arbiter of your content.” i’d think that every blog has its share of readership, no matter what the content is (there will always be someone out there who will be interested), but it would be the quality and clarity of the writing that will determine if the visitor will return.
i could be wrong.
March 9th, 2007 at 8:36 am
sabi nila, try talking about your own love life. more people are interested in that. i don’t know if it works though.
March 9th, 2007 at 8:11 am
re: posting a comment - I always make sure that my comments are with sense and of course, related to the blogger’s posted topic. Also I’ve seen the benefits of posting comments which somehow provoke thinking or contemplation from the blog owner or his readers in general. It triggers more issues and interactions.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Yes, meeting friends online–iba feeling. But you do also meet bots just like the trackback that preceded me–na-REBLOG–ka erwin. It’s not bad isn’t it or is it???