Blogging community, also known as blogosphere, is a collective community of several blogs (WebBusinessWizz 2009). It aggregates the individual and independent blogs of a number of people with shared interest, such as sharing the same cause, similar political views, similar business interest, and so on (Kinkeldei 2007, p.1).
To form a blogging community, a blogger needs to (eHow.com n.d.):
- Read other blogs – get a feel of what he is more inclined to and to discover other blogs with common interest
- Leave comments on other blogs – provides a calling card for other bloggers to find you
- Reply to comments – shows you are engaging with other bloggers
- List your blog in directories – to allow your blog to be found
- Write often – can give readers variety and maintain them to stay on your blog longer
- Posts must be entertaining – provide readers with fresh content and not bore them
- Market your blog – besides visiting other bloggers, take other means of marketing your blog
There are three forms which blogging communities are derived from (White 2006):
- One Blog Centric Community – the blog is owned by one blogger or organization and it possess full control over other blog members using this platform
- Topic Centric Community – community that arises between blogs linked with a common passion or topic via hyperlinks; no single technological platform
- Boundaried Community – a collection of blogs and blog readers hosted on a single site or platform
To give further analysis on the type of blogging communities, let’s look at Anecdote. Anecdote’s tagline, “Putting stories to work”, in itself explains what the blog is all about. This blog allows corporate people to share their business strategies in the form of stories whereby any readers will finder it easier to relate to. It’s a really good example of a One Blog Centric Community as it is owned by Mark Schenk, one owner, and it allows other bloggers to tell share their stories.
White (2006) states that if the owner decides to take or shut down the whole blog, it will lead to the destruction of the community and other consequences. Since Anecdote is a business related blog, it allows bloggers opportunity to build working relationships among each other and relationships/networks are important for business. Therefore, if this weblog were to shut down and unless the bloggers have alternative communication paths, it could cause lost of relationship or other chances of improving or forming new relationships. Thus, One Blog Centric Community can be beneficial and yet damaging as well.
References:
Blogging Communities for the Blogging Enthusiast, Web Business Wizz, viewed 5 May 2011,
How To Build a Blogging Community, eHow, viewed 5 May 2011,
Kinkeldei, B 2007, Whitepaper Blog Communities - Forging Connnections and Promoting Growth Through Blog Communities, 21 Publish, viewed 6 May 2011,
<http://www.21publish.com/pub/21publish/blogging-whitepaper.pdf>
White, N 2006, Blogs and Community - Launcing a New Paradigm for Online Community, Australian Flexible Learning Framework, viewed on 5 May 2011,
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