Blogspot.com, Xanga.com, Facebook, MySpace…the list of blogging sites goes on and on, and it seems as if the list grows daily. What is this thing called “blogging” that seems to have taken over the world of social media? Blogging is a term used for web logging or creating journals that you post online for others to read and comment on. Within the past few years, video blogging has become ever popular because of its ease of use and widespread reach.

So how does blogging tie into social media? The answer to this question is simple…

Blogging brings the audience to the social media outlet like nothing else before it…and social media does the same for blogging…they scratch each other’s backs. Bloggers flock to social media sites because they know that is where the audience is, and social media grows by the minute because people are flocking there to read each other’s blogs.

Facebook and Blogging

Originally created as a way to keep college students in contact with each other, Facebook has evolved into a social media giant in a short amount of time. What is the draw? Who doesn’t like logging into their Facebook account and seeing what their friends all over the country or world are doing at that moment. It’s like being a fly on the wall that has been invited in! You can become a fan of your favorite author, join a group specifically for people who love tomato soup, or you can become a political activist.

Not only does Facebook allow you to create short blogs, also known as statuses, but you can also post links to websites you want to share or create notes (basically blogs) that you can “tag” and invite your friends to read. Mostly Facebook is a form of blogging that only allows people you like to read your entries, but there are other sites that are open to the prying and inquisitive eyes of everyone with a computer.

MySpace Blogging

MySpace has hundreds of millions of users, and each one of them has access to everything you write about on your MySpace profile (unless you make it private). MySpace is the internet hub for meeting, greeting and befriending people from all walks of life. Share music, links, videos, pictures and your inner most feelings through your personal profile. Rub elbows with your favorite band, movie star or athlete without ever having to introduce yourself.

Blogging on MySpace is easy because all you have to do is create a blog and post the link on social bookmarking sites (digg.com, reddit.com, delicious.com, mixx.com, diigo.com) so that anyone browsing the internet for something interesting to read will come upon the link to your blog, click on it, read the blog and get interested, entertained, awed, disgusted, intrigued or offended by what you’ve posted.

Blogging and Social Media: Can’t Have One Without the Other…

People use social media sites like Facebook and MySpace to promote their blogs, links and political ideals to a very large audience. Blogging not only allows people to express themselves online, it is also a crucial tool in the social media toolbox. Without people to blog and spread the word, social media sites wouldn’t really exist. Does anyone visit MySpace or Facebook for the advertisements? No. They go to see what their friends and families are doing, learning, and blogging about. The small, small world has gotten smaller thanks to social media and bloggers.

Blogging and social media are the Siamese twins of the internet…they cannot be separated without serious damage to one or the other, or both.

Courtesy of Gary Hayes.

A lot of Search Engine Marketing “Experts” will say that a blog is perfect for getting those much-needed keywords onto your website that will help you rank higher and better in search engine organic results. The problem with that is, search engines aren’t actually “reading” your content. They are simply scanning it. And eventually, when you have an actual real person that visits your website, they will read your “content” and realize what a hack you are. They will not pass your content on nor will they visit your website again. This means that all the effort and time you spent writing blog entires stuffed with keywords and anchor text that had nothing important to say may have gotten visitors to your website, but it didn’t keep them there. It didn’t help push people to spread what you have to say via Twitter, Facebook, or email.

When it comes down to it, writing thoughtful, well-written blog entries are the best way to attract steady, relevant users to your website. Sure, they may not have all the “desired” search terms or keywords that you’re hoping to rank for, but it WILL show visitors and potential customers your expertise and make them interested in what you have to say.

In many ways, it’s harder to write for the search engines than it is for real people. Trying to fit in the word “costume” when only “costumes” seems to make sense can be a real challenge and lead to awkward sentences that will repel readers. Writing out your natural thoughts about a subject and teaching others what you have to say seems to roll off the tongue (or off the fingers, in computer-speak) much easier than any well-structured search engine blog post ever could.

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Image courtesy of Caitlinator on Flickr.

With Facebook making changes in privacy practices and the Federal Trade Commission considering adopting a more aggressive approach in policing online business practices, many business owners are taking action to protect the privacy of their customers as well.

In August, the New York Times posted a piece about the growing trend of bars, nightclubs, and other entertainment venues in adopting policies that prohibit tweeting or taking photos of other groups. “In an era … when shots of you in unflattering jeans become part of your permanent Google search results,” writes Allen Salkin, “there are signs that some are tired of living their lives on the Web.”

Far more unsettling than unflattering jeans are the findings from a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which discovered that medical students were in violation of doctor-patient confidentiality by tweeting or blogging about patient details.

Of 78 US medical schools studied, over half reported incidents of medical students posting sensitive or unprofessional material online. In some cases, even when patient names were not used, enough information was provided that patients could potentially be identified. One in ten postings was found to be in blatant violation of patient confidentiality. Profanity, discriminatory language, and sexually suggestive material were common.

Few of the schools had policies that dealt with social networking and blogging. Investigators involved in the study are recommending that professional use of social media become part of media school curricula.

Headline image from the New York Times

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Karen Eisenbraun is a freelance writer and marketing specialist based in Kansas City, Missouri. She enjoys yoga, rock climbing, an occasionally jumping out of airplanes.

Due to the explosion of social media, SEM, and internet marketing efforts online, there are tons of exciting and informative conferences coming soon around the country that offer great ways on how to develop and integrate your business through the internet.

Here’s a few to get you started:

140tc (@140tc): http://parnassusgroup.com/twitterconference
September 22-23, 2009, Los Angeles, CA. $299 for registrations before Sept. 6 (a killer deal! Psst….we’ve heard that the code F16LA at the checkout process will also shave 10% off that price, making it $30 cheaper!)

This conference is all about Twitter, which speakers and panelists ranging from Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter), Tony Hawk, Joel McHale, Loni Love, and many more.

SMX East (@smx): http://searchmarketingexpo.com/east
October 5-7, 2009, New York City, NY. All-Access Pass: $1,245 for registrations before Sept. 11 (there’s other types of pricing and tickets available)

This conference features 3 tracks: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, and offers a no-nonsense approach to SEM that all SEM professional will find useful.

Blog World & New Media Expo (@blogworld): http://www.blogworldexpo.com
October 15-17, 2009, Las Vegas, NV. Full-Access Pass: $895 for registrations before Sept. 14

This giant conference and expo features NINE tracks and has sessions on social media, affiliate blogging, podcasts and much more.

Have any more to add to the list? Comment below.

Splogs, or spam + blogs, date back as far as 2003, when sites that were designed to host spam displayed nonsensical computer-generated text or text stolen from other sites. These early splogs generally contained links to affiliated Web sites. Content was often gibberish and solely for search engine purposes. Blogger defines spam blogs as those containing  “irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site.” Blogging platforms such as Blogger and Wordpress have implemented measures to  identify and remove spam blogs.

The term splog is also commonly used in reference to spam in blog comments, including spings, or fraudulent  trackbacks. Both blogs and trackbacks that point to spam sites are often easy to spot due to their overtly spammy appearance. But other types of splogs aren’t so obvious.

Search for almost any topic on the Web, and you’re bound to find a blog that looks legit … and yet somehow smacks of insincerity. Blog posts containing poorly written bare-bones text and seemingly disingenuous endorsements of various sites and services are popping up all over the Internet. Is this the new generation of splogs?

Blogs that appear to be helmed by actual humans, often focus on a particular niche, and link to a variety of sites rather than one single site can much more easily bypass the anti-spamming measures taken by sites such as Blogger and Wordpress.  While comment spam and overtly bogus blogs may be easy to spot and report to blogging platforms, these newer types of splogs are more dubious.  They may contain a user profile and the content may be unique, but clearly written to benefit the target sites, whether or not they are affiliated with the blog in question.

With sploggers continuing to find ways around anti-spamming efforts, are legitimate bloggers forced to live with the consequences? Is the blogosphere destined to compete with the splogosphere forever, despite the best efforts of those committed to preserving the integrity of the Web?

Image courtesy of: http://informedvoters.files.wordpress.com