What counts as blogging?

Someone asked me how long I’d been blogging for, and I had to first think of what would actually count as blogging before I could answer. While I would often join in with, and even start, a number of forum posts to the degree that could almost be considered blogging, I would say my first foray into posting to the wider community was through the online networking platform Ecademy back in December 2004, but even that was pretty lightweight and social rather than business. But to then take my blogging outside of that playground, well you can see those tentative efforts here (I leave that post live to remind me that it was not actually that long ago after all).

Anyway, no wonder I don’t blog as much as I should/want to, my mind and thus my writing meanders all over the place…

So what does count as blogging? If we take the correct meaning it is a web log – which quite frankly could mean anything.

If you are blogging for pleasure, you can write what you want. For business we perhaps want to behave ourselves a bit  more ;-). What are our options for a blog. What can people who don’t write well do, for instance? Well these days I’d suggest whatever works for what you want your blog to achieve.

• If you want to impart knowledge and demonstrate that you know your stuff, might you be able to do that just as easily with a video? Work out a way to do yours and then add it to your blog with some brief notes and post that – see if that works for you.
• Or just a screencast? On the Blogmistress site I like to do a screencast to accompany any blog posts that include showing the reader how to do something. These days I “just do it” rather than delete and re-record until things are perfect – I’m far less fussy and nobody’s noticed or complained so far…
• Could you have your ideas transcribed from a recording? If you can record what you want to say, how about then having someone type it up into a post for you? Or post the actual recorded file – podcasting your blog.
• My friend and colleague, Steven Healey, has just added a list function to his new blog that has me very excited. I’d love some blog posts to be actual discussions. The hardest part of that is encouraging people to join in, to engage, I’m sure. But he’s found a tool, and I’ll help him test that out, that makes this simpler to make happen.
• If visual is what appeals to you and your audience, use Pinterest or Tumblr or one of the wondrous image sharing options out there.
• Articles can certainly be blog posts, or is that the other way around – Suze explores that idea rather nicely.

What else? What would you consider appropriate for a blog?

Babs

photo credit: Foxtongue via photopin cc