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Blogging by Visiting
By Michele Martin | November 29, 2007
One of the things that happens when you first start blogging is that you tend to be very focused on yourself. You’re consumed with things like:
- What should I write?
- How do I get people to come over here and read what I have to say?
- How often should I post?
- Should I keep tweaking the layout of my site or does it look OK?
The list goes on and on. It’s very easy to get absorbed in yourself.
But here’s the deal. Blogging is about conversation. It’s about talking with other people, reading their ideas, giving and receiving feedback. If you spend all your time at your place, then 1) you won’t meet any new people and 2) you’re not very interesting to hang out with.
Think of it this way. Your blog is like your house. Do you just sit at home and wait for people to come to you? Do they somehow magically know to appear on your doorstep to chat about the weather or the latest news? Of course not. You have to leave your house to go visit people you already know or meet new ones. Once you have some friends and start chatting then they come visit you at your place. But not all the time. Sometimes you have to go to their house, too.
Blogging is like that. Yes, you need to spend some time in your own home, fixing it up, making sure it’s inviting and interesting. But you also have to make sure you go see other people, find out what they’re up to, leave them a comment to tell them that you appreciate what they say or that their ideas interest you.
Alan Levine has some good thoughts on how to keep blogging as a social act, rather than something you do by yourself. It’s easy to forget the community aspect, but that’s one of the main reasons for blogging. Otherwise you’re just another web page.
Topics: Conversations |
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:21 am
Why is this so hard to remember? I subscribe to almost 100 feeds, yet only comment on a few. Of course, I don’t invite people over to my house very often at all, preferring it to be a cave where I hide. I’d rather go out to see what other people are doing. Isn’t it amazing how often our blogging behavior echoes other parts of our lives?