This article is just a rewrite from my blog article with added content from mine. I rewrote the same on one of community blog for the Institution, I completed my M.Cs.
Why I want content there? Why I want people from JK to write?
I have already wrote about my motive behind growing this blog as a community platform for current and older students. One of few problems, which I have found with this blog, is lack of content as of now. Its a common issue for many of the community blogs in the start and in most of the cases, the way out of it seems to be ready with lots of prepared articles from the community itself before starting the blog itself, which goes easier, if many of the people from the community already having their established blogs as they could push their already published articles here.
Why one would write for, if they already have a blog or even not?
Attention!! Traffic!! Recognition!! Loyalty!!
These are the words, which every blogger or even normal people know about. A community blog makes you connected with like-minded people, from whom you could learn a few things and who could tell you. Its like attending Re-Unions or joining Social Networking Sites, its a way to get connected and get conversations going in this hard life, where you hardly get time to meet classmates even if living in the same city.
What is Blog?
The million dollar question and why to write one? If you go into the details then it was an abbreviation for the word "Weblog", which later shortened up into the word "Blog".
Purpose?
Some find it as an online diary, some as a medium of expressing thoughts to get a greater audience without much efforts, some as providing news information without any official approval from any authority and some as even commercial purpose advertising in cost-free ways (Yes!!! I know that cost may be involved in blogging, if you move over higher scales, but I will come to that later place). There might be as many reasons as one finds for connecting internet. Fame, networking, serving community etc.
What it serves to society?
It offers really really a lot. You get to know many untold details about products including appliances, movies, shows, company and any commercial brand. You get to know inner and un-censored observations of many over almost any of the issue. I could admit freely that before going for any big decisions and I always seek inputs from these sources and never got disappointed.
Many campaigns has been successfully ran over blog and affected even governments. Many issues got lightened up by the blogs first and only then media got notice of the same. You must be familiar with the campaign for saving Tigers from Aircel now days, they ask you to blog about it.
No news of now days got an early off in air before the blogs themselves. It's sure has becoming a real world phenomenon as Googling.
Word of caution:
Yes!! It's not completely free as it seems to be. Many writers have been nailed down by concerned government, if the material went illegal or offensive. In fact, other countries have started keeping effective checks on any material going on air. India still has much to do in the way. But a blogger also needs to keep as much caution as he could and should cross check all the things before publishing to web.
Similarly, it goes to viewers as well that to believe on lines of Blogs only as much as they believe on words of any neighbour passenger over issues. Always keep your mind even after reading and always take a second opinion.
How to start?
Taking a start with blogging is as easy as creating an email ID and also free in the similar ways. The big names are WordPress, Blogspot, TypePad, Windows Live Spaces and Rediffland etc. Even Google has introduced their services in the same way, but I haven't used them neither aware of them much, but sure will get to know about them very soon.
First thing is to take up a free account from any of them with a proper distinguished name in connection of your theme of blogging and then it comes to core theme, writing. Although exposure and reach matters sometimes more, but powerful writing makes blog attractive. Powerful doesn't mean it to be complicated and nearly perfect of literature standards, but powerful meant to its being affective, smooth and as natural as it can be (Except you are writing over something very technical or have professional motives, which better suited with any other way).
For writing purposes, all the blog services provide their web applications means you could write online easily without knowledge of HTML etc, just if you know routine word processor things. But I suggest you to choose some offline medium as well, because it goes comfortable and cost effective for sure. Obviously, one could always save a .Doc file and then copy paste the same, but I meant with something else.
Tools to write:
Microsoft recently introduced two prominent ways to support blogging; One is in-built in their latest Office Suit: Microsoft Office 2007 (Costly one) and another free way is Microsoft Live Writer (I personally found the same very handy and cost effective solution against Microsoft Office 2007). Live Editor is much better in comparison as it produced perfect HTML code behind posts. Clean HTML Matters for convenience to search coz most of the traffic come from searches. Like most of the bloggers, I recommend Live Editor. Go through the link and you will find many handy/ must have plugins for the same as well.
Tools for awareness and content:
If you wanted to write, then obviously you need to know what to write for and you also needs to know that what are the best bloggers and site talking about. Here I recommend you to be familiar with feeds and the best feed reader named FeedDemon. Find my article related to it here.
How to make your blog accessible and well known?
The next and most important thing is how to present the things in a way that they get noticed on web otherwise your blog will be an unknown address, which is known to only a few one. Obviously, it's not possible that you may tell each and every known one about the web address or everyone might be searching with your name for some relevant content.
Only sometimes after starting with Blogs, one get to know that he she is not getting enough visitors on way and only then one realises that there are other things one should consider and it's no more about writing only. There are other ways, through which any blog gets traffic its way. Commonly used term is Tags. Tags are the keyword, which might be most important in your blog or in the particular article written by you, some word, on searching for which, you wish to get your link appeared on the Google results.
The other means are social mediums like Twitter, Buzz, Facebook, Orkut etc. It just requires for loyalty, if someone subscribe for your feeds, then you are sure that every word written by you will find them reading.
With this post, I requested all Jkites to share there blog links and also find time to put their posts here. It will cost your little time only and will give you another experience, may be you will be proud.
Other related links
http://nitishkumar.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/system-of-writing-blogs/
http://nitishkumar.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/blogging-with-windows-live-editor/
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