This blog is 12 – Some thoughts on thinking through how best to get your message out there

As of this week, I have been blogging for 12 years. It’s my 12th blogday. My most popular post was published in 2017; the second, in 2011; the third, in 2010. 

That 2017 post is still attracting a steady stream of visitors which is an example of a key feature of blog posts: they can have enduring appeal. If you blog, people can find your content long after it has been published, either because you direct them there, or because they find it through search engines. 

Blogging for these 12 years has been a very gratifying for me, and I would always encourage others to give it a go. However, blogs may not always be the best tool to get your message out there. In my social media workshops, I usually help participants think through the role of various social media channels in their communication efforts by asking themselves two questions:

• What type of message am I putting out there?, and

• What type of interaction best supports that? 

Based on these two questions, we can categorise social media platforms, and decide which one would work best for our goals:

If we are putting content out there that should stand the test of time, and where interaction is valuable but not essential, then we should focus on content tools. Which tool, exactly, will depend on the one that is most popular with your audience, as well as the format (e.g., text vs. image vs video vs audio) that works best for your message and for your audience. Blogs are great content tools, primarily for written content (though, not exclusively). But they are not the best mechanism for fleeting thoughts. Broadcasting tools like Clubhouse or Instagram stories would be much better for that. Blogs are also not good for quick exchange of ideas or for interactive discussions. Collaboration tools like Snapchat or Teams would be more suitable for that. And, finally, blogs are not the best tools to create or sustain connection. We should use social networking tools for that.

Let me know if these questions help you think through how best to get your message out there.