HUMAN BEINGS are social animals who do not like to live in isolation. The need to interact, express, share and communicate ones feelings thoughts, insights, experiences, knowledge and information has been a crucial element of human behaviour.
However the ever growing modernisation and urbanisation has brought in a culture where the boundaries of social interaction on one hand are becoming very narrow with face to face interaction being used only for a purpose – to accomplish some work, fulfil some task and on the other hand growing technology is giving wider opportunities to people to express themselves, find supporters, share about their learning and experiences with an option of keeping their identity a secret.
Blogging – an innovation in this internet era has become so popular across the globe that every year more and more internet users are turning into bloggers.
Blogging is a free internet service where individuals can write about almost anything thing they want to express or share with the world. It is for many an online journal, for others it is used as an account of experiences, insights and learning. Some use it to share jokes, stories, their experiments in writing, illustrations and photography. A few use it to promote various social causes. Some vent out their feelings about the current happenings.
A friend who lives in the world of blogs says, “I get to express myself through my blogs. I write about anything and everything that I feel like writing.”
Another said, “I like to read other people’s blogs and when I find like minded persons, I am sure to comment. Infact, I have made many friends that way.”
For Ankush, who feels that he is often misunderstood when he shares about his experiences and insights with his colleagues or friends writes a blog everyday and feels very peaceful and stress free after writing.
Blogs thus are not only a medium of expression but also help in relieving stress, trauma, boredom, loneliness and hence helps keep the mind healthy.
After working in the corporate sector for more than 15 years, Shailesh felt that he wanted to do something more productive. He started working for many development organisations and also started an orkut community called, “People for Social Cause.”
Along with this community he started educating people and creating awareness among people through his blog in the same name. Through his blogs, he not only pens down his thoughts but also gives links to information on the issues of children, women and senior citizens.
Similarly, Kanwa, believes that he can bring in awareness among people through his motivational and insightful stories, which have touched him and changed his own life.
An article on havefundogood.blogspot.com talks about different ways in which blogs can be used to promote a non-profit organisation and its cause.
Blogs, according to this article can be used for sharing news about the organisation by including bloggers in the press list, create a blog about your organisation and its cause, use blogs for fund raising and for seeking volunteers and supporters.
For a friend’s sister, writing has always been a hobby. Ever since she started blogging her confidence increased and now she has started writing features for various magazines and newspapers. She feels empowered through her writings and says, “One starts looking at things differently when they pen them down.”
Preeti a young lady, who survived a lot of domestic violence and managed to separate from her husband shares that very often she would feel lonely and internet blogging has thrown open a new world to her. She now writes blogs and even gets paid for writing.
Today, one can earn a good sum by simply writing blogs and reading other people’s blog. This has brought in a financial benefit to blogging. Advertisers have started making full use of blogs to advertise their products and every hit on a blog ensures visibility and potential business and thus has brought in a new dimension to e-commerce. It is thus a low cost medium to increase business especially a very good option for start up businesses.
Blogs provide rich data for the purposes of both social and market research as people write about their feelings, attitudes and perceptions. A report in Contentsutra.com recently talked about companies like Nokia which used blogs and discussion boards to validate their consumer research, bringing in a new phenomena of webnography in the field of research.
Another recent development is use of blogs to advertise vacancies and recruitments. Various placement agencies are now exploring the use of blogs for this purpose. The manhunt does not end with just placing vacancy advertisement but moves on to checking the credibility of the candidate, his attitudes and perceptions, which will aid in taking a decision. Vice versa, candidates also have started using the blogs to get an idea about the company culture and opinions of other employees in the company
The benefits of blogging are thus truly very vast. It is fast becoming a very powerful media useful in all walks of life. Thus it is right to say that blogging has arrived and is here to stay.
By Sharmila Govande
Source: http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=129085
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
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