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My blogging tales – Experience of a b-logger from Calcutta
Starting a blog was long due. I knew about blogging since the day it was launched. Well, almost. A friend first told me about it. And when I checked up the net (read googled it), I got interested. But that was about 4 years back. When I finally came out of my lazy den to have a blog, I found that most people around me had one. How regular they were with posts were a different issue. But the most tech savvy ones and the not-so-savvy ones had a web address. And I jumped in. Nobody wants to be left behind right? But that was just the beginning of the thinking process. It took me another 2 years to fathom up the patience to fill up three pages of forms. Yeah for the tech savvy ones this may be a normal job but for a laymen like me, I preferred surfing the internet more than filling out forms. Especially when it said “Sorry this blog address is not available”. I mean you can’t name your blog ‘crazy pink’ when you are about to write on say, bikes. This would look terribly weird. The same happened with me. I knew I would be writing on practically nothing of importance. I mean I won’t be writing on anything specialised such as computer programming or Indian classical music. I would post blogs as I liked and that too on things that I experienced or feet about. In short I was to post blogs on my life in general. But choosing a blog name was a challenge. Literally. That apart from filling out forms was also a reason to start a blog late. Add to this my laziness and you will understand the grave situation I was in. But at last after many blog URL’s got rejected, I managed to get one. The name just poped up in my mind and I just typed it out. And Bingo! It was available. And thus my blog was born. It was like a naming ceremony. And then it all started out rolling.
Starting the b-log
My first blog was on June 2009. And since then I have tried to post blogs as regularly as possible. But it doesn’t happen all the time. Sometime you have a topic or a theme to write upon but not the time to type it out. But I would say blogging is a good experience. It opens the door to the world. And moreover it gets you into the habit of writing. The last time I sincerely practiced writing was in class 12 I guess. After that there was no need to practice writing per se (You know how it is when you are into college. You are too talented to practice. The only time you fill papers with writing is during exams). So my writing habit was almost finished after school. And diary writing belonged to the 19th century. So, blogging was a good way to start writing all over again. No matter what the topic is writing is always good. It increases your thinking power and communication skills. The more you write the better you get. I personally rate blogging as ten on ten. It’s a super idea. And it’s super cool for today’s generation. Say you can read other people’s blog. You learn. You can write something when you are bored or not doing anything particular. Thus you do something creative, something meaningful. And at the same time you get you work exposed to the whole world. And you get followers. Thus you gain all the way through.
Further Exposure
My first good insight on blogging was at Kolkata Bloggers Meet 2009 which was held at CCD, Salt Lake at Adbalbs Cinema. It was organised by ‘webreps’, a group of young and dynamic web industry experts and ‘Indusnet Academy’, a company that trains students different sides of web technology. It was on August 8, 2009. A friend had forwarded me the invitation and I had decided to go the moment I read the mail. There are experts talking on different aspects of web technology. Like someone gave a speech on ‘Why we should blog?’ and someone on ‘How to monetize your blog?’ A person who seemed quite veteran in the industry talked about ‘reputation management’ through web. Blogging is a big thing now. And it’s catching up first. It has its use from both the sides i.e. writing and reading. Not only a blog provides a platform to one’s need to express, it also feeds the knowledge hungry. There are many blogs on specific topics. For e.g. there is one on photography, one on letters to and from famous people, one on bridal makeup and the list is endless. Just think of one topic and you are surely going to land up on a blog that’s specifically dedicated to that topic. And these are written by people who are completely into that area. There are nonsense and general kind of writings also which at times can provide a good laugh. Thus blogging is a read-write and write-read kind of a thing. You can express, you can impress, and you can learn, you can have fun, you can connect and virtually reach the globe and that’s just the beginning.
It was in this Bloggers Meet that I first learned that you can earn through your blog by having advertisements. That is with the fact that your blog should be worth reading and following. So you should write on something specific, something that you know well. People must be willing to pay for your stuff. There are many people around who have turned professional blogger. They earn as much and sometimes even more than any other professional. This is because there blog is worth reading. You never know where you can end up by having a blog. Some have ended up by having a book. With blogs one can even do a reputation management for their company or for themselves. When something is up on the net, it’s up for eternity. So when one writes, one should keep in mind the future repercussions. Many companies even hire people through their blogs. For example a publisher can hire a good writer or an electronic goods company can hire a good reviewer for their products. But it should also be kept in mind that if hiring is possible, then firing too is possible through blogs. One should avoid overflow of feelings while writing about office or about the Dilbert boss. The HR or the management may sack him before he even knows. Many companies and now actually monitoring what their employees are doing online. Some companies have even sent a circular to their employees asking them to take the permission of their bosses if they want to post something about their company. Even if you want to write good things, you should know where to stop. There are many instances where people got sacked and had their appointment letters withdrawn. They tried to be smart but the HR proved to be smarter. This is firstly because whatever you write is viewable by the whole world. And the worst part is in the internet it stays for eternity. Even if you delete your posts, traces will remain. And who knows which rival company had copied or forwarded it to get ahead. It is also that it creates a bad impression of the company. But from a HR point of view, when you are not happy with the company anymore and feel not-so-good about the company and write about it publicly, then its better that you leave for good. And this is what the reality is. So it’s good to blog. But it’s better to blog from the brain.
Endnote
At last a little advice for those who don’t have a blog yet – ‘Stop reading, Start Blogging. And the rest will follow’. Choose a topic you love or write on anything you want to. But do keep up with ethics and maintain you limits. Remember, on the internet, it’s the whole world who is watching.
Ms. Sarita Bose is a blogger and her blog can be seen here at www.lifeslittletales.blogspot.com. Her blog was spotted by our editor and she was invited to contribute. This is her first contribution for Pentasect. She can be contacted at bose.sarita@gmail.com