Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter
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The Truth About Social Media
I’m an apologist/advocate for blogs. Always have been and always will be. I guess you can also say that I‘m hardcore (and unapologetic .. no pun intended).
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of posts who’s advice can apply as much to social networks as it does to blogging. In fact most of the social media “tips” that I’ve been reading are taken directly from their blog predecessor. So much so that the blurring of the lines between Social Networking and Blogging are making them synonymous.
Taking that thought even further I suppose you could argue social networks are the natural evolution of blogs. (I define Social Media as including blogs and social networks). But that is not what this post is about. I’ll save that for another rant.
What I am talking about is what separates real blogs from the Twitters and Facebooks et al, and why Blogs still matter and deserve our attention. Let me explain.
Blogs allow us to:
- Speak our mind .. without limitations we can say what we want and as much as we want because it is our site. We are not limited to a specific number of characters like Twitter does or forced to fall in line with a draconian TOS (like Facebook’s Terms of Service for example).
- SEO .. with our own blog and domain name we keep all of the Google cred for ourselves instead of handing over pagerank to the social network.
- Control .. with a blog of our own we can control our data and destiny. Unlike Facebook for example we own our content.
- Privacy .. we can tell the search engines to only index certain content or to not index it at all. We can allow only certain members to access our content or keep it completely private.
- Richer content … blogs allow us to use multiple file formats such as MP3, Video, Images and much more.
- Blogs are for writers .. social networks are for commenters. Nuff said.
- Real communities .. people who subscribe to our blog and comment are more loyal than followers on a social network because they are making an investure in supporting our work.
- Real conversations .. not just one or two-liner blips. Blogs enable us to articulate and explore our ideas and link to perspectives from other sources.
- Real relationships .. because of the nature of blogs, they attract readers with similar values and interests. Whereas social networks are temporary hangouts until the next big thing comes along.
- Blogs are a labor of love .. when you invest time and effort into creating a blog you have a sense of reward and pride in ownership that no Facebook account can ever give you.
- Blogs are a window into our soul .. readers can get a real sense of who we are and what makes us tick because blogs allow us to share more of ourself.
- Blogs mean business .. no matter how much Facebook or Twitter may try to add business capabilities they will never come close to what a blog can accomplish because the platform is limited, closed and proprietary.
- Blogs are a technically mature product .. having been around for the better part of a decade there are a staggering number of apps, addons, plugins and built-in programming capabilities that you will not find in social networks.
- Blogs are our online home .. it is our body of work, a resume, our brand. Blogs define us, who we are and what we represent.
- Anything that social networks can do .. blogs can do better.
Ok, so I’m biased. Did I forget anything? Blog on!
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Blogs are such a labour of love that you will still want to update it even when you know there will be nobody to read it now - but eventually someone will in the future.
Not true for social networks - you much have established connections and everything happens NOW ! No one cares what you tweeted yesterday.
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“you must* have established connections”
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@Jaffer, you make a good point … blogs have lasting power over the long term for pulling in traffic
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I never really considered that blogs and social media were in competition. I always think of them as complementary. Perhaps I’m in the minority on this?
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@fadedglamour, “complimentary” .. in a “competition”? Yes, perhaps.
Let me explain … first of all I’m always mindful of newbies who read this blog and it’s helpful they know the difference between social networks and blogging. Especially considering the huge numbers of new users who are joining the social networks every day.
Listening to all the hype it would be easy to get the wrong impression that blogging is dead or the same as social networking. Hopefully this post will serve to differentiate the two and act as a reminder (myself included) of the benefits of blogging as we get sucked into the Social Media hype day after day.
And speaking of myself, writing this post was a sort of catharsis because as I was writing I was feeling a little down on blogging taking a backseat to Social Media. I almost didn’t finish it but I’m glad that I did and I feel rejuvenated as a blogger, and hopefully readers of this article will be as inspired as I am.
Blog on!
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Good post Bloke. I doubt if the blog will go anywhere even with this social media thing.
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@Curtis, thanks for dropping by and the vote of confidence.
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Awesome tips Bloke :).. Blogs are supreme indeed!
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@S Ahsan, “supreme indeed”
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Blogs allow for a hell of a lot more creativity, too. Not only can you really speak your mind, you can communicate creatively — artistically even — rather than just rely on text.
Social networking rocks as a compliment to blogging, though.
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@JohnFTM, unfortunately many are using it as their primary “blogging” platform
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Interesting thoughts!
Sam
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wow, I wish I had read this a few weeks ago. I am in charge of all the social media at work and they always want to know about the newest thing, the next thing and this would have been the perfect thing to have in hand for the argument that blogs are still the cornerstone for a great social media campaign. I think I will archive this one for them. Thanks.
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Twitter, to me, is the modern evolution of the chat room…which is where I started online almost 20 years ago. You just don’t have to join a “room” to carry on a conversation.
For me, Facebook is a way to stay in touch with family and friends and also promote my blog. It’s one way that I’ve added readers who might not have found my blog. Especially friends that I’m reconnecting with.
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thanks I doubt if the blog will go anywhere even with this social media thing.
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Nice post Bloke..!!
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I always prefer Facebook over the rest of social networks. I like the Facebook games. Just now I´m playing one of them. It´s call Wine Guru.
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Facebook is more important than bloggers. Facebook beat blogs and more and more people use facebook and blogs not.
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Blogs in my opinion were the original social networks. They were originally journals about common interest niches. They were a way for the average person to get the word out without having to build a website. Social networks connected all of this together. As long as they belong to that network
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@Rick, that’s a misnomer to say only social networks connected us. I have been on facebook for years and I have made far more friends blogging than I ever connected on facebook. It was not that easy to set up a blog either especially back in the beginning, or setting up a professional site. In fact it takes more work to develop a blog than it does to set up a static website and forget about it. But it is worth the effort if you have something to say.
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NEW POST: Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://bit.ly/d1uBJw
Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter: http://bit.ly/dpN5zY
Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://ff.im/-i9KfK
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[…] Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter www.blogbloke.com/blogs-social-networks – view page – cached I‘m an apologist/advocate for blogs. Always have been and always will be. I guess you can also say that I‘m hardcore (and unapologetic .. no pun intended). Lately I’ve been reading a lot of posts who’s advice can apply as much to social networks as it does to blogging […] Filter tweets […]
@Jaffer, you make a good point … blogs have lasting power over the long term http://bit.ly/avTi4a
As a blogger I was feeling down while I was writing this post http://bit.ly/d1uBJw but after slugging through it I feel rejuvenated again.
@fadedglamour, for the more seasoned users you are probably right. But as for the newbies it's helpful to know the … http://bit.ly/avTi4a
BlogBloke's interesting argument about the advantages of blogs over social networks http://bit.ly/aE2Vdl — especially Points #2, 3, 12, 13
@JohnFTM, unfortunately many are using it as their primary "blogging" platform http://bit.ly/avTi4a
@S Ahsan, " supreme indeed" http://bit.ly/avTi4a
@Teri, so glad to hear from you again and wish I had your self control. http://bit.ly/avTi4a
RT @BLOGBlokeTips Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://bit.ly/d1uBJw
RT @johnftm: RT @BLOGBlokeTips Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://bit.ly/d1uBJw
wow, I wish I had read this a few weeks ago. I am in charge of all the social media at work and they always want to… http://bit.ly/avTi4a
Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://t.co/xrSbWfKO via @BLOGBloke Love this article <3 Absolutely right!
Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://t.co/xrSbWfKO via @BLOGBloke Love this article <3 Absolutely right!
Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://t.co/aA1D6MLW via @BLOGBloke
Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://t.co/aA1D6MLW via @BLOGBloke
Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://t.co/aA1D6MLW via @BLOGBloke
Blogs vs. Social Networks: 15 Good Reasons Why Blogs Still Matter http://t.co/ecbLCRpZ via @BLOGBloke