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Blogging 101

By on March 20, 2012

The Post is inching up on 100. Not there yet, but within striking distance. There are still many mysteries about posting to be resolved. One is networking— how to get people to discover you are there in the vast blogosphere or Cosmos of Communication. Big successful organizations are heavily financed and wanting readers to read. They tolerate tweets. It’s a one-way proposition. Trying to break in as a contributor is about as easy as showing up for Dancing with the Stars and getting invited to tango with Angelina Jolie.

Then there are your friends and acquaintances who support you through the process. They are vital. You need to keep posting regularly, but not to the point where you bore them or drive them away. I read a piece recently that said most people on Facebook have ‘unfriended’ someone because of something they have posted or posting too frequently. That was a wake-up moment.

Then there is the content. No one wants a polemic every morning with coffee. There are too many of those already. It doesn’t matter whose side you are taking in any issue. People want a balance and they want to be able to think and make up their minds on their own. It is hard to stay way from politics if you are addressing US health care. The two are intertwined like snakes mating right now. It is easier to stay away from religion, the other third rail of communication.

Pictures help. Photos even more than word pictures. Sometimes you write something and it is clear as day to you what you said. Only later do you discover the possible confusion you have created. We all exist primarily in our own heads. Getting out of them, with a message, is a challenge even for the best of writers.

Guest pieces are great. The Post had a wonderful response to Dr. Deramerian’s piece on Bedside Manners. We are soliciting more and looking for more guests. People don’t want to hear just the editor mouthing off all the time. We are also posting some new pieces from Mr. Rittenhouse, after a gap. Hopefully there will be more names on the site. And more regulars.

Finally a blog needs feedback, even if it is to say “I didn’t like that”, or “that wasn’t very good”, or “I see it differently.” Feedback is oxygen. It is an essential nutrient to successful communication. Without it you are delivering a soliloquy and that, as Hamlet could tell you, is not the best way to exchange information.

Tom Godfrey

About Tom Godfrey

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