Just to clarify though, my girlfriend is a lovely girl that would stab me
THE SUCCESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is becoming the peoples sword to wield in the realms of influence and opinion. No longer are we leaving it up to corporations to dictate to us what we want. We are telling others what we like, how we like it, why we like it and where we got it. Erik Qualman (2009, p. 21) puts it like this, “Million-dollar television advertisements are no longer the king influencer of purchase intent. People referring products and services via social media tools are the new king”.
Social media is free, it is accessible 24/7, it doesn’t require a monthly subscription, it's raw and it's up to the reader to decide how they will absorb it. The individual becomes the judge of validity. It can also be incredibly personal, something which corporations strive to produce but can never achieve, which makes it so powerful. Nowhere else is this more evident than in a blog.
WHAT IS A BLOG?
A blog in a nutshell is a reverse chronological record of content including text, images, video and audio which its curator decides to publish. It can be snippets of thought, an image here or there, a well thought out opinion piece, or a dormant time capsule on subject matter personal to the publisher. As Jill Walker Rettberg (2014, p. 5) explains, you need to read a blog over time to fully comprehend and understand the blog. She likens reading a blog to getting to know someone over a period of time. Familiarity is not instant but cumulative. The reader must engage with the material first and foremost. If the reader is not interested they will not stay.
To be successful, the blogger must greet their reader with meaningful content and the reader in turn may respond to the blogger by reading and commenting, similar to the the way you would greet someone for the first time. The blogger and reader don’t need to know each other, but a common ground has to be established for the relationship to continue. There is no ulterior motive to sell or profit from the readers participation which means the the reader has choice, a powerful point of difference which makes blogs so successful.
The absence of an ulterior motive other than sharing what the blogger finds interesting, means that a reader can relax, form opinions and absorb. They can either agree or disagree and can voice their opinions in the form of comments.
Blogs are also a way for people to share their passions, and it’s that passion and enthusiasm that draws people to blogs. Bloggers are real people who will take pride in what they publish and their reputation. Because blogs are built on personal passions, they usually address a niche market or topic which will have a specific target audience. Realising who your audience is, and why they visit is key to a successful blog. Know why you are writing, what you are writing about and do so in a way that is interesting.
A SUCCESSFUL BLOG
Lifehacker released a list of successful blogging techniques which give a good basis for creating a successful blog. It highlights the importance of:
• identifying your target audience
• advertising you content with a good headline (see what i did with mine)
• creating meaningful content
• engaging with your audience and other bloggers
• take feedback onboard
• do all of the above in your own way
pretty simple right? Yes I’m not so sure.
MY BLOG #DARKNIGHTRIDEFAST
Blogging has always been something I had put in the too hard basket. It's time consuming, you need to be consistent, you need to be interesting, you need an audience. I am impatient, impulsive, sometimes controversial and pretty boring. I will however take this opportunity of maintaining a blog as a challenge and attempt to make it a success. I will try to give the blog some of my personality and make it worth while to visit.
IT'S PURPOSE
The purpose of my blog will be to show people some of what I get up to day to day whilst providing my fellow cohort with my personal perspective on the Enterprise 2.0 subject matter. My passion for cycling will probably creep in around the edges but I will try to keep it balanced.
MY POSTS
I will attempt to make my posts at least interesting to read, first and foremost. No one likes to read dry material. I will try and show a bit of my personality whilst compiling my research, and choose my source material from a wide selection. Hopefully I can give an interesting perspective on what enterprise 2.0 means to me and how I feel it can be used effectively.
STRATEGIES FOR OBTAINING READERSHIP
#hashtagswillbethekeytomysuccess
THE RADAVIST
Earlier I harped on about a bloggers passion, and how that made for a successful blog. One of my favourite blogs, the radavist embodies this concept of passion perfectly. Run by John Prolly, the blog has gone from strength to strength over the years. Originally starting life as prollyisnotprobably.com, it has been a pleasure to read John’s progression from amateur cycle enthusiast to full time cycle critic, now able to fully support himself through his blogging. He is lucky enough to travel the world documenting some of the most exciting cycling events, and reviewing the cutting edge of cycle componentry. He does so in a way that gives his readers a great insight into what he likes, why he likes it and what he would improve. He also engages with his readers though the comments section and in person at events. It is also worth noting that he went from a wordpress blog platform, to a fully custom website which has enabled him to very effectively display his posts using post categories and post importance.
That wraps up my first post for enterprise 2.0, let me know if you liked it.
References
Qualman E. (2009). Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business. John Wiley and Sons. Retrieved from
Rettberg J. (2014). Blogging. Retrieved from
This post was great from the beginning, with that captivating and engaging title. I liked your view on social media and I think it's great you've decided to include it in your digital strategy. Will be interesting to see how you take to Twitter and Facebook, considering you mentioned you aren't an active user of either of them.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing pictures of your naked girlfriend in the future.
Or any person naked.
Or just a person.
I'm lonely.
I will find some risqué pictures that skirt the boundaries of QUT's policies and put them up for you, my only audience :)
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