Everyone talks about blogs, bloggers and even vloggers – but where did this word come from? Being a wordy person I know the answer!
Originally blogs were a sort of on line journal or diary – and known as web logs. If you ever watched Star Trek you’ll remember the voice over at the beginning “Captain’s log, stardate ….” Blog is simply a contraction of ‘web log’ – as if the English language isn’t already rich enough, we love to add new words!
A log is simply a place where you record information, usually about events or data that relates to an event. For instance, a driver’s log shows the miles travelled and start and end points.
However, as with all good words, someone has transformed ‘blog’ into ‘blogger’ as in someone who writes web logs. So a logger is no longer someone who chops down trees and transports them by river to a new destination – it’s taken on a whole new persona.
Bloggers and vloggers
Now to add yet another word ‘vlogger’. This, of course, is a contraction of ‘video logger’. So bloggers write and vloggers make videos of their content. So does that make people who post podcasts ‘ploggers’? What about people who post photos? Are they ‘phloggers’?
Content is KING
Regardless of the medium you choose for your blog – or whether you use a combination of all the above – you’ll only get engagement if you post content that people want.
You’ve probably heard of ‘professional bloggers’. These are usually young people who have generated an audience so large that big organisations are prepared to pay big bucks to advertise on their blog. That’s how they make their money.
You may have taken a look at some of their blogs and wondered how they’ve generated so many followers. The answer is that – regardless of what YOU think of their content, they have an audience who love it. It’s all about knowing your audience and giving them what they want.
If the blog is about lifestyle tips for a teenage girl – and you don’t fit that profile, you will almost certainly think it’s a load of drivel. However, the blogger doesn’t care – they’re not writing for you. And there is your lesson – who are you writing for?
If you’ve only got a vague idea and write generic blogs for ‘anybody’ don’t be surprised if your audience remains relatively modest. Get to know your target audience really well – what they like, what they hate, what keeps them awake at night, what they want to know – and write/video/podcast/photograph about the things that are important to them. You might be surprised at the results.
