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Jun 12 2011

Blogs, Blogging and Comments

Screenshot of the blogging system WordPress.

Image via Wikipedia

There used to be a rather hearty debate online about what exactly defines a blog. What sets a blog apart from a webpage or magazine or other online format?

This is not one of those posts. Instead, it is just my pixelated version of asking the question: to be successful at blogging do you need to read and comment on blogs?

I think if you want a certain amount of traffic and influence the answer is yes.  And this has presented me with a more and more pressing dilemma.

Because I don’t really read a lot of book or literary blogs anymore; and almost never comment if I happen to stumble upon a post. Basically, my free time has been squeezed by work and family and I have a limited amount of true free time. Since I love to read, books take up a chunk of that time.

Much of the time I have left gets eaten up by social media; Facebook, twitter, etc.  In fact, any blog reading I do will usually come from links found at these sources.  Add in the fact that I have a wide variety of interests (I not only read a lot of different genres plus non-fiction, but I also focus on issues like sports, politics, and faith. This means a lot of people to follow and information to process which creates a dangerous time suck.

More and more this means very little blog reading and no commenting to speak of.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Views • 2 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Mar 2 2010

The Social Media Marketing Book by Dan Zarrella

As I have noted before, the fine folks over at NetGalley operate sort of like an open bar for alcoholics. People who just don’t have enough books to read can get a hold of even more!  I kid, of course, as it is a very convenient way to get review copies without making your TBR pile even more of a fire hazard.

Speaking of which, one such digital galley I picked up was The Social Media Marketing Book by Dan Zarrella. Since social media plays a big role in my “day job” I thought it would be worth checking out.

It turned out to be a useful approach but a very basic introduction. A useful and easy to read book for those just looking to explore social media marketing and want to know how to get started.

More after the jump.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Sep 30 2009

Quote of the Day: Book Blogging’s Golden Age

Be sure to read Mark Athitakis: The Way of the Litblog.  This quote is worth the price of admission:

I suspect that when somebody says that blogging had a “golden age,” the person means that there was a time (circa 2002) when it felt new and exciting, and the media wanted to do stories about it, and some people got a lot of attention really quickly (book deals! movie options!), and everybody got to have lively discussions and post pictures of puppies or argue about string theory, and it was a thrill because we all had a brand-new toy to play with and we knew who was reading us and we were finally, finally, getting some interesting e-mail. That moment has passed, so it’s easy for media folk to say blogging is old hat and move on to the new. But blogging remains a valid form, and Twitter is no replacement for it. (Twitter is more a supplemental form, I think—a supplement to a supplement.) What other online format besides blogging allows people to write at various lengths, distribute to a wide audience, and spark conversations? I suppose Facebook might qualify, but it’s a poor vehicle for lengthy, considered thought, and its system is designed to push your ideas only to your closest friends. If blogging is over, nobody’s created a suitable replacement for what blogging does.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Views • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Dec 9 2008

Jane Austen on Facebook?

Someone envisions it here.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Asides • 0 • Tags: ,