Blogging the beginning and the future

Ever wondered how blogging started and when?  Blogging now mainstream, was still not considered the best way to communicate just five short years ago. I like to see it as a collision resulting in a new star, when the traditional publishing star was falling and the internet star was rising. "Several broadly popular American blogs emerged in 2001: Andrew Sullivan's AndrewSullivan.com, Ron Gunzburger's Politics1.com, Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, Glenn Reynolds' Instapundit, Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs, and Jerome Armstrong's MyDD — all blogging primarily on politics (two earlier popular American political blogs were Bob Somerby's Daily Howler launched in 1998 and Mickey Kaus' Kausfiles launched in 1999)."  Wiki The history of blogging Now with social media  sites like twitter you can find blogs, swap links, and as a blogger, list at http://justtweetit.com/ Promoting your blog on twitter  and other social media  sites is an essential. So as a reader of blogs rather than an expert (I have about thirty in my reader, which I visit regularly and others that I stumble upon whilst on twitter or just searching), I humbly offer this advice to fellow bloggers. Bloggers golden rules. Make your posts shorter. We live in the info age. Info is streaming at us so fast and from every possible quarter, that rambling on for pages will loose me, and many other readers I suppose. Bite size rather than the whole roast beef. Keep it short and sweet, provide links if you want your reader to get more, let them choose. There are blog posts that are captivating enough to hold me for pages if I'm on the mood, but not often. If your comments start a thread that goes on and on and on consider stopping re-posting and starting over. Comment on other's blogs if you want to get the same attention. There are people who categorically refuse to post comments based on the fact that people meaninglessly repeat what has gone before and rarely read the string, but I'm not one of them. Let your readers know what the blog is about in the title or within the first few centimeters. Purpose! Don't steal content, but credit and link. Donna Jackson Social Communications Specialist Wisequeen