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Friday, September 16, 2011

The world of blogging is continually changing(BBAW)

The world of blogging is continually changing. Share 3 things you believe  are essential tried and true practices for every blogger and 1-3 new trends or tools you’ve adapted recently or would like to in the future.baby_with_hammer

When I started this Blog I hadn’t a clue what I was doing, I was bashing out posts with no idea of the results, for all intents and purpose I was still that lone insular reader I had always been. Then I started getting comments, which started a dialogue between myself and the individuals commenting, which still goes on now over a year later. Many books have past through that dialogue, but it’s essentially the same – the desire to express a passion for the written word, in whatever form it takes. So my first practice is if you like a blog or a post on a blog let them know - even if your opinion differs - start a dialogue, which leads to my second tried and true practice. If someone comments on your blog/post, reply because what you want is to build a rapport with these people, your fellow bloggers, you want to start a conversation, not get trapped in what is essentially a monologue (if that was the case, don’t have a comments box). This leads with almost pre-planned ease to my third tried and trusted thingummy bob – praise those that are there for you, support those that support you, this is the  essence of networking, as a group of individuals with a shared purpose. A perfect example of this is BBAW, which is made up of a mass of readers and bloggers all in their own insular worlds coming together to become a worldwide support network of Bookfiends.


A-real-man-who-fixes-things








The second part of this question, what new trends or tools you’ve adapted recently or would like to in the future? The obvious one is Twitter, this is a fantastic tool for Blogging. Now, I’m a relatively latecomer to this, but I’ve found it a fabulous help, forget how it can help promote your post (which it can) but the networking capabilities of it are fantastic, some mornings I’ve been involved  in book related chatter, that involved people in Asia, Australia, Europe, America etc., which definitely makes my day start with a big grin. The second is my smartphone, most bloggers who’ve received a comment from me, have received it by my phone, my tweeting is via an app on my phone as is my Goodreads app, my blogger app & then there’s another app, which is also my third chosen tool - Google Reader.

Hito
Human
>
Side-view of homo sapiens
Once  bending with arms down
Now matchstick torso striking out,
Stark and upright earthling,
A figure striding, God knows where
Springy twiglike upside-down Y.
A wishbone. A divining rod.
Hito. Human. Ein Mensch.
>
Naked and maskless.
Here neither female nor male
A bare-boned biped.
>
And yet a self-reflecting mind.
At first two downward strokes
Inscribed on bone or tortoise shell,
A bare pictograph.
Bit by bit crisscross of symbols,
Living lives of their own,
A pointing out and interplay,
A signal’s doubleness.

Grounded sign-maker,
High-minded and down-to-earth.
Our human being.
>
Michael O’Siadhail.

20 comments:

  1. So true that it's important to comment, even if your opinion differs from the blogger's. If you voice your opinion in a non-confrontational way, that can be a great basis to start a discussion on.

    Twitter does make the world seem smaller, doesn't it? I love how everyone is on there! My phone and my feed reader are invaluable tools for me, too.

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  2. Good advice. I really need to start writing posts that engage my readers to start dialogue with me.

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  3. I agree, for me twitter has been a fantistic tool for me too!

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  4. Oh, I totally agree about having a conversation. Without it, we're just dropping words into the void.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts...and for visiting my blog.

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  5. I didn't even think about all my apps in relation to this question, but they have become absolute "musts" for me!

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  6. You know I didn't even think of my Iphone being a blogging tool, but you are right. I published and posted many a comment from my Iphone. I am very new to twitter (as in last week) and I have no idea what I'm doing on there. Enjoyed your post!

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  7. Do tell what the Blogger app is called...I have an iPad and tried to search the App Store for a Blogger app and came up empty!

    -Molly

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  8. I was resistant to touching Twitter for a long time but it's really one of my favorite things to check on each day. It's a great way to have an instant dialogue.

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  9. great post-before I became involved with the book blog community my love of reading isolated me-I grew up in a world in which readers were "nerds" and such-now I now there are millions of us

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  10. I have a thing for bookish apps - i have apps from all the major stores, the goodreads app, three book organiser apps and I use a note app to keep a schedule of my reading handy, plus I can use the wordpress app to approve posts etc and the tweetdeck app lets me stay connected to Twitter :)
    A teeny bit obsessive LoL
    Thanks for sharing your post

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

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  11. Looks like Twitter is the popular answer for what's next. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who is a little late with twitter.

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  12. Hi Erin, it's amazing how much Blog-related stuff I do via my phone & totally agree with the non-confrontational approach, you can say so much more with a polite reasoned response.

    Hello Alison, just being yourself will engage with individuals to start the connections and the just keep on keeping on.

    Hi Leah, Twitter gets me ideas, gets me links, gets me books, I have trouble finding a negative, unless it's the amount of time I loose to it.


    Hi Laurel-Rain Snow, and have you ever tried to reason with a void, talk about one sided.

    Hello Jen, love my apps. Total change of subject, I see you're a fellow worker in the care sector.

    Hi Amy, mine's a HTC desire & without my apps, my comment statement would be wishful thinking, my whole BBAW experience was mainly via my phone.

    Hello Quirky Girls (Molly)tried a quick Google and came up with this info- hope it helps
    This is Google Apps for I products
    http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/business/googleapps.html

    This is an App called Blogpress
    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blogpress/id317799861?mt=8

    and finally this is Blogger for I products
    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blogger/id459407288

    No idea what they're like as my phone's Android based, hoping it's of some use.



    Hello Amber Stults, It's incredible the amount of book related nonsense & such stuff I access via twitter and also how much help there's also there.

    Hi Mel, Geeks,nerds doesn't matter we are the ones that communicate instead of plain grunting - so power to the bookfiend in all their reading lifes.


    Hello Shelleyrae, love my GR app, used to use a book organiser app, use my note book app, have bookmarks for my favourite pages, twitter(tweetcaster)app, G+ apps FB app etc. No not obsessive just a little bit compulsive, or is that just me.

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  13. Hello Laura Ashlee, a latecomer to it's use, but now wouldn't be without it.

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  14. Oh yes. I've come to really love it.

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  15. I love your comment about starting a dialogue...that's totally key. I think differing opinions often lead to the best conversations. I love hearing and considering and talking about other people's substantive thoughts and opinions on books when they differ from my own as well as when they share my views. It all adds to enhance the reading experience.

    Great poem by Michael O'Siadhail at the end of your post! Thank you

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  16. "...praise those that are there for you, support those that support you"

    This is an excellent point. It's important to be a part of the community if you want to feel like part of it. That seems obvious, but I think people forget.

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  17. Nothing irks me more than a blogger who appears to ignore comments! Great advice about responding to comments. I am MUCH more likely to leave a comment if I know a blogger engages with his/her readers!

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  18. Hello Amy, I don't know what your reading life is like, but my journey was one of an isolated path, knew no one who was into books like myself, no one who was obsessed, enamoured, bewitched by the written word, as myself - So no real chance of a dialogue, occasionally the odd monologue, with bemused bystanders, with varying degrees of understanding & boredom. So you can imagine my joy on discovering our world, where books are the skeleton, the food, the spirit of our conversations.
    PS: it is a good poem isn't it.

    Hi Kim, Yes, also if you don't want to be part, don't want that input - Don't have a comments box, fire your monologues into the ether.

    Hello Heather,It's about the dialogue, If you don't want one, why have a comments box, if it's purely ego stroking, there has to be easier ways than blogging.

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  19. I love Twitter though I should use it more. I admire your skills at creating dialogue and keeping it going. I love how you quote whole poems as comments to my posts. Thanks so much for enriching my blogging and reading life. All the best.

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  20. thank you, it's a reciprocated admiration, as I thoroughly enjoyed your last post on the awards. As for the poetry it kind of came out of the idea of poetry bombing & how to make spamming positive, now I love leaving poems around the blogworld.
    PS,you enjoying Being Human.

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