This is a Guest Post by Sylwia Presley , ethicist and business developer at work, social media strategist for non-profits outside of work; social media enthusiast and blogger who still believes in the power of written word 😉 Catch her on Twitter and Facebook.

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I was asked to post about blogging. Blogging is a big topic, and it’s hard to compile all its aspects in a post (which should not be too long;)), so I will send you away to my very new, crispy fresh ‘how to blog’ blog and here talk about why I think blogging still is powerful.

Mainly because it is an interactive tool, which allows us to reach global audience. Thus its content is exposed to constant criticism  – before you post anything on you blog you need to consider every possible consequence of what you put up there and still be prepared to cope with the unexpected reactions. It does require a certain type of predictability, but also transparency and openness for critique. I personally really like the self-regulatory power of bloggosphere, because it encourages building strong voice and very powerful relationships. I would advise to think twice before you post something and if you do, have your goals in mind. Take my recent post on love for instance, designed to send a message to everyone who knows me to update them on where I am in my life, to my past, present and future partners to understand me better, but also to question few old truths and hopefully kick off discussion.

Now, the discussion kicked off by content of your blog might not happen in comments section. I think social media is rich in tools and by now I see conversations moving to various platforms. I very often converse on Twitter, but I also talk on Flickr, LinkedIn and Facebook. I go and talk about my main blog’s content via e-mails, and quite often I have in my inbox posts from my friends referring to recent blog posts – simply because they are used to this way of ‘conversing’ with me. At the beginning, in 2004 I was very happy that I can put all my toughs on a topic in a rather structured but still personal way in one place on-line and let my friends read it whenever they want to or have time to do so. And they really picked it up and consider my blog as a journal – written just as much for myself, as for them! I also bring discussions from other platforms to my blog and talk about recent Oxford Flickr group exhibition, YouTube video, Mashable discussion or testing of Google Wave. My blog is the central hub for who I am for public.

In my case I am quite open, as blogging changed my life drastically many times and I think honesty on-line is a huge investment. However I think it is up to each of us how much we give away here. I do keep vast amount of my life offline and I want it to stay this way. I have my own balance between what I do say and what I keep for myself, but I strive to present my on-line voice as close to the natural one as possible. You have to decide, what you want to present, what tools you want to use and what effect you want to have on people. 

Blogging gives you a unique opportunity to voice your opinions, present yourself the way you want to, and meeet similiar people. You can do it from your pc, mobile or anywhere with wifi;) You can do it few times a day, you can post once in a while. It is entirely up to you how you do it, but remember – the ‘how’ in this case stand for ‘who you are’ so you might want to decide upon your own blogging tactics. 

I suggest starting with this brilliant free guide to blogging and simply trying blogging out. As you start discovering your own voice and the beauty of on-line interaction and variety of responses, you will get the feel of what blogging is about.

Just make sure you have a good reason to do so;) Fake blogging can be easily spotted, and we bloggers are like wolves – we respect our own kind, we are very open to new ideas, but we tend to turn away from meaningless conversations! Listen to others, read their content and contribute to the discussion on-line. Manage discussions on your sites and be aware of what is happening around. And if you are funny, think about the fact that you can make someone’s day! It’s a nice thought as it is:) Good luck!

So stop reading, go on, set it up and start typing! And if you need support, catch me on Twitter as @presleysylwia 😉