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Blogging has changed my life
"What does blogging mean for you?" That’s one of questions many people (even journalists) frequently asked me. For me, blogging means a lot. I will tell you why.
I left Tempo Daily on March 1, 2007, and started to be a full-time blogger: write tech posts for some established sites and blogs like CNET, SlashPhone and PhoneMag; and then run a Jakarta-based Asia Blogging Network. Two years and half later, I joined an Internet giant company, Yahoo!. As Country Editor for Yahoo! Indonesia, one of my tasks is working with bloggers and online communities.
Talking about the professional blogging's opportunity, there are two models that you can choose if you really wanted to pick blogging as your main job: As a (1) publisher; or (2) freelancer. The first one requires knowledge and skills to monetize your blogs -- you should be an expert on online advertising, referral programs, SEO and so on. Another one just need your skill as a writer-- just write for some sites or blogs and you'll get paid.
I preferred the second one --since writing is nothing new for me. But I need to know the nature of blogging’s tools and communities. That’s why I should start blogging. It’s a new world and we can’t understand it just by relying on our common-sense. I believe that blogging is a kind of “science” –that’s why we need to learn its methodology, theory, medium, community and so on.
I just started to blog [seriously] since the beginning of 2006 when I started to write for my own gadget site called 3GWeek. Written in English, the blog mostly discusses about telecommunications and mobile technology.
Why did I choose technology as a major topic for my blogging? It's simple. I love everything about technology. I was also conducting a small research and noticed that even the big tech blogs were still fighting to seek good writers and bloggers for their publications. That’s a big opportunity, right? I became more convinced that my preferred topic (technology) and medium (blogs) is a good decision…
And blogging is not only about content, but also about community. I found that writing for blogs is a bit different than writing for printing media --in term of interacting with readers. I already wrote a bunch of newspaper's articles for years but I don't know whether the readers like it or not. On the other hand, with blogging, I could get readers’ response quickly. That’s amazing. I learned a lot from them. I try to talk with them, instead of to teach them.
Just about a few months after I started blogging, CNET, the world’s leading tech news portal, invited me to blog for them about Indonesia's technology scenes. Then a U.S. based online publications also offered me to write for SlashPhone, PhoneMag and iPhoneBuzz.
As a blogger, I was invited to some tech events and conferences in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Stuttgart, Barcelona and Amsterdam. I was also invited to be a jury member for the Deutsche Welle Blog Awards in Berlin (November 2008) and April 2010 (yes, I am now here in Germany to attend the meeting).
So, if you again ask me, what does blogging mean for me? "It means a lot. Blogging has changed my life!"
Ushahidi.com wins Best Weblog Award 2010!
Of the eleven finalists in the Best Weblog category, Ushahidi was named the winner for this year's Deutsche Welle Blog Awards. Blogombal's Antyo Rentjoko won the Best Weblog Indonesian! Check out the full list of the Jury's winners here.
The Deutsche Welle Blog winners have been selected!
The sixth annual Deutsche Welle Blog Awards has now ended, check out the User Awards winners here.The winners for the Jury Award will be announced tonight at the Friedrichstadtpalast building in Berlin in conjunction with the re:publica conference.
re:publica 2010: the blogger and social media conference
This year's Deutsche Welle Blog Awards was attached to the re:publica 2010, 14-16 April, at Friedrichstadtpalast, Berlin. The announcement of the DW's blog winners also will be held at the event on Thursday's evening. Yeah, since today's the BOBS jury meeting has done, I decided to attend some conferences this afternoon. There are some cool sessions on blogging and social media.
The conference, focussed on blogs, social media und digital culture, is hosted by newthinking communications and Spreeblick Verlag. The event will take place simultaneously in the neighbouring locations Friedrichstadtpalast, Kalkscheune and Quatsch Comedy Club in Berlin-Mitte.
More than 150 hours of programme will be offered on 3 days on 8 different stages . The many facets of digital culture will be discussed in over 120 lectures, workshops, discussion rounds and events. For the first time within the framework of the re:publica the winner of the “Deutsche Welle BOBS” will be announced.
During the first re:publica in 2007, 700 participants came to the event in Berlin, by the year 2009 the number grew to more than 1600 attendees. This year over 2,500 participants are expected to attend re:publica 2010.
Why people blog?
Dan Blank writes an interesting post on why people blog and what we can learn from it.
Even a busy editor still want to blog. Why? The reasons:
“It forces me to connect with others.”
“Readers provide helpful and interesting comments.”
“Enables me to better connect with my audience, and get a better understanding of their focuses and thinking.”
“Blog provides another vehicle for reaching readers.”
“I enjoy having conversations with people I wouldn’t otherwise connect with.”
“It opens a dialogue between me and the industry’s manufacturers.”
That's true! The list really fits with my experience... :-D
Check-out the complete list here
Fake Steve Jobs blog likely to shut down
That's too bad if it's true! Like everyone, I really enjoyed this blog --thanks to Dan Lyons!
It took a year for anyone to figure out that Forbes (now Newsweek) writer Dan Lyons was the guy behind the Fake Steve Jobs blog. Now, a couple of years later, the blog is still going strong. And it remains very, very funny.
Now Lyons’ success in writing about Steve Jobs may lead directly to the blog being shut down, we’ve heard.
[via TechCrunch]
Will you pay for the NYT's blogs?
Personally, I don't mind to pay in order to get an access to high-quality and newsworthy blogs. My only concern is about timing: not now...
Tell me what you think, my lovely readers!
Felix Salmon of Reuters wrote:
Nisenholtz did say quite clearly that he expected ad revenue to go up rather than down, which implied to me that that paywall was going to be pretty porous. And Sulzberger said that “we are not trying to eliminate ourselves from the digital ecosystem”. But when I asked about specifics, it all got rather messy. It started when I asked whether the NYT’s own blogs would be counted towards the quota, and Nisenholtz replied that “our intention is to keep blogs behind the wall”.That shocked me: blogs rely on loyal readers who come back to read them often. But few blog readers are loyal enough to pay for the privilege of reading that blog. And if you’re someone who participates regularly in the Freakonomics comments section, for instance, you’re going to be very annoyed if you’re forced to buy a subscription to the entire nytimes.com site in order to do so.
Stop launching blogs, start contributing!
It's an interesting discussion. But one for sure: keep blogging!
Chad Mueller of Inspired Magazine said, "Let’s contribute to already established blogs instead of creating new blogs."I know guest blogging isn’t a new concept, but when you are thinking about launching a new blog be sure to weigh out the options. Think about it, what are the main reasons for starting a blog – you want to express your thoughts. Does it really matter where your thoughts are expressed? Established blogs are always accepting guest writers...
[via @enda]
