Wordpress Direct Misses The Point
Nov 26, 2008 blogging
Thanks for visiting! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to by RSS, or by Email. And if there's anything else I can do for you, feel free to drop me a line.
Mashable tells us about Wordpress Direct, which has apparently reached ten thousand users.
What do I think of this? I think it’s really sad - the number of people who don’t get it.
Yes, you can probably make a blog with decent content using a plugin like that (albeit by stealing it from others). And yes, you probably can earn money from it, because it’s optimized and all. And it doesn’t take that much work.
But in my opinion, in doing so, you miss the whole point of blogging. Blogging shouldn’t be about making money. Far from it. It shouldn’t even be about the content per se.
More than anything, in my opinion, blogging is about the community.
It’s about who you’re reaching, who you’re interacting with. It’s about the connections you make, and the people you can influence or inspire. It’s about connecting with like-minded, intelligent people and improving each other.
That’s the value of blogging, in my opinion. It’s about the people, the community.
Why do you blog?
Tags: community, People, Plug-in, relationships, wordpress, Wordpress Direct
What Matters the Most
Nov 24, 2008 Events
Over the past week, I’ve been attending a lot of events, as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 Singapore.
Thinking back on the week, though, one thing struck me. The session that I enjoyed the most, and gained the most out of, in my opinion, wasn’t the talks. It wasn’t listening to experts, etc. It was the networking session - just interacting with other people who are passionate about the subject.
At the end of it all, that’s what I think matters the most - the people. Not “experts” or concepts or anything. Yes, those are important. But what’s the most important is the people (to me, at least).
What matters the most to you?
Tags: community, Global Entrepreneurship Week, People, singapore
The #1 Way to Build a Community
Image via Wikipedia
Over the weekend I attended a few sessions at Podcamp Singapore and the Digital Media Festival. The one thing that struck me the most was the idea of going where the people are.
At DM Fest, the topic came up when I was talking to someone just after a session about communities. I was asking his opinion about whether it made more sense to use your own logins if you’re trying to build a community, or to try and leverage technologies like OpenID so people can use other accounts to join. The answer was a pretty obvious one.
At Podcamp Singapore, the topic came up in both the sessions I attended. Coleman talked about choosing the right medium - text, audio or video. As you can imagine, one of the main factors discussed was about audience preference.
The other session I attended was by Amsie from Curious Foodie, who shared her journey on blogging. During the session, the discussion went on a very nice (in my opinion) tangent when the owner of fourcardflush, a poker blog, asked for advice on how to build the local online poker community - the poker community in Singapore is largely unseen online. The suggestions? To go out into the offline community, take part in the games, and build from there.
3 very different sessions, with different focuses and applications. But the common general theme is quite prevalent.
The easiest way to build a community is to go where the people are. Don’t just try to pull them to where you are. Go to where they are, join them, and build relationships first. Then do you thing, and they will follow.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=15c011d8-8b2c-4dab-a1f3-8e910d626f57)
Tags: audience, blog, community, OpenID, podcamp singapore, singapore
2 Lessons from The Best Security System in the World
Sep 12, 2008 Random
Christopher S. Penn tells us about the best security system in the world, post 9/11.
Two things from that:
1) You’re often your strongest when you have nothing to lose.
2) It’s about the people, the community. Community trumps policy and tools any time. Take the example of Obama and his grassroots campaign, for example. Community, people. That’s the most important.
[?]Tags: community, grassroots, nothing to lose, obama, People, security
Why I’ve Joined Facebook
Jun 27, 2008 Technology, blogging
Yes, I know I said I’d never do it, but well, I’ve just joined Facebook.
Personally, I still don’t really like the privacy issues and all. But I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the whole thing, and I realized something. This whole social media thing that I’m doing - my blog, twitter, etc - it’s not just about me getting my voice heard. It’s about being part of a community, and connecting with all of you. It’s just as much about you - how you can connect to me and how I can help you - as it is about me.
And since everyone seems to be on Facebook, I figured that it’s time for me to join. I’ve had numerous people ask me to join Facebook, from people who attended the Social Media Breakfasts in Singapore, to the likes of Connie Bensen, and more. And I realize I’ve been missing out on a lot of opportunities to connect with all of you out there.
That’s why I’ve finally joined Facebook. Because this scene isn’t just about me - it’s about the community. And I want to be as accessible as possible, I want it to be as easy as possible for you to connect with me.
So, feel free to connect with me on Facebook. You’re the reason I joined.
[?]Tags: community, connecting, facebook, social media
Let Me Promote Your Work
Jun 21, 2008 blogging
I’ve just created a new page on my blog, specifically dedicated to you and your content. It’s an idea I sort of stole from Chris Brogan (Chris, hope you don’t mind).
I know there are lots of you out there smarter than me, who have better content than I do. So why not let me promote it? Not much work required on your part, just fill up the form below (or on the Your Content page), and I’ll add it to the list. You get a free link, and free syndication (if you choose).
cforms contact form by delicious:days
[?]Friend Connect for Blogs?
May 15, 2008 Technology, blogging
You might have read about Google’s new Friend Connect service. There’s definitely been no shortage of news coverage about it.
I haven’t seen that much of it so far, other than the examples on the web site. I’m looking forward to watching the campfire videos over the next few days. But I have to say, I am very interested and intrigued by the service. So, I’ve signed up for the preview release.
Lots of bloggers, myself included, want our blogs to be about community. We want our blogs to be not just a place where we can be heard, but a place where people can connect, and have their say as well. We want it to be a conversation, a community.
As such, I’m sure there’s got to be a use for a service such as Friend Connect. In trying to build a community, an easy, one-click way to add social features has got to be useful.
That said, I don’t have any concrete ideas yet. I’ll definitely be thinking about it, especially as more demos and videos come out. But I thought I’d throw it out to you guys as well. Lots of you are smarter than I am.
So, what do you guys think of Friend Connect? Useful? Any ideas already on how you’re going to use it?
[?]Tags: blog, community, Conversation, Friend connect, google, social, web 2.0
