If you’re reading this, you understand the importance of people like me (and you, of course). WE are the blogosphere. We are the megaphones to the mouths of people silenced by traditional media. Most likely, your teenage daughter, favorite company, and quilting-obsessed grandmother are all live streaming in this open publishing forum.
We speak our minds at 90 wpm through this relatively new outlet with a funny little name and hope that other people will read our thoughts and turn our monologue into a dialogue. But how? With so many people joining the ‘sphere, how can your voice be heard? How can you encourage discussion and exchange of information to affirm our foot in citizen reporting?Follow some of these suggestions to help your blog lurkers find a voice:
- Ask a question: Ending your post in an open question encourages readers to reply to you. The more contentious your conclusion, the more likely you are to elicit a response.
- Create a poll: Gauge your public’s opinion through quick and easy polls that allow readers to bypass lengthy or time-consuming commenting. Use polling tools like Bloggeries and Blogpoll to help you get started.
- Reward participators: List top commentators on your blog with a widget or plug-in. On WordPress, this can be easily done with the Show Top Commentators plug-in.
- Keep them updated: This goes for your audience members and your blog posts. By posting consistently, you will keep readers engaged over time. Take it a step further and allow readers to subscribe to comments, so they are alerted when follow up comments are made.
Above all else, don’t be a bore. If your posts are relevant and easy-to-read, your audience will look forward to hearing from you and hopefully conversing with you and fellow followers.
What would you add to the list?
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