Blogging has revolutionized the dynamics of social interaction. It has become a tool for global exchange of thoughts and ideas. Much like the core activities, blogging is a grassroots initiative: Individuals or small groups of friends decide to start a blog on a chosen topic and engage a community of interest in elevated discussions, social discourse.
Let us try to see how Baha’is can effectively engage in social discourse online. In case you'd first like to read a more general introduction to blogging, visit these two:
→ Blogs in Plain English (Video)
→ Starting your first Blog - 29 Tips, Tutorials, and Resources
1. Focus
The Writings offer guidance on a seemingly endless variety of topics. Choose a topic for your blog that you have sufficient knowledge of and truly enjoy. Otherwise, writing about it will feel stale very quickly. You need to be able to stay motivated about your blog's topic for a long time. Also, specializing in one subject will drive interested readers back to you and allows you to have an ongoing discussion on your subject. Solve problems, do case studies, write critiques.
2. Be Personal, Be Passionate
People don’t visit blogs to read things they can find in a library. They want to hear opinions, stories, ideas. Write as though you were talking face-to-face with them. Share your understanding of the Writings, share your opinions on current affairs, if relevant to the topic you have chosen. But be careful to be clear about what is your opinion and the Baha’i Faith’s official perspective.
3. Less is More
In the online world, less is more. Every internet user is already on information overload, and most people are not willing to read long essays, unless they are written by George Friedman. Three to five short paragraphs is absolutely sufficient for a blog post. If you’d like to cover a topic that requires more information, break up the story into several parts and post a series over a couple of days. This will also keep visitors coming back.
If you are using quotations from the Writings, make sure you only post the relevant excerpt, never more than 3-4 lines. Long blocks of quotations are ignored by readers.
4. Use Visuals
If a user sees a big block of text on his screen, there is a 90% chance he will not read the text. Images are powerful tools to engage users. Take a look at SoulPancake.com, they regularly have a somewhat-relevant video before each post. Use images and graphs, they add color and life to your blog.
5. Effective Titles
The title of your post is the only thing that shows up in search engines results, on Twitter, and on Facebook. It is the single most important part of your post. Keep the title simple, be descriptive of the post, grab attention. Some of the most effective titles are lists and numbers (5 Problems with Women's Rights in Iran) and how-to's (Paella 101 for non-Spaniards).
6. Invite Discussion
Ask questions and invite comments. Be open-ended in your posts and leave room for discussion. Then, join the discussion your commenters are having. Build a community around your blog. This implies that you have to seek out related blogs and engage in discussions on their sites. After all, it's social discourse.
Remember these six tips and you're half-way to becoming a successful blogger. Enjoy!