Cyberspace community

Ever wondered what a 'blogging community' is?

I tried googling about it and stumbled across a very down-to-earth answer: a 'blogging community' is exactly that - a community - where bloggers have a sense of belonging and identity and are welcoming towards others (Anthony 2009).

To be part of a blogging community or to create one, one should take the time and effort to find people in the blogosphere. Denise (2009) advises bloggers to become "a visible, contributing, supporting member of the blogosphere" and they can do this by using tools like RSS, blogging platforms, Facebook and Twitter. Skelliewag.org (2009) has a few good tips on building a blogging community, like focusing on writing viral articles and commenting on other sites.

According to White (2006), there are three types of blogging communities.

The first is the 'one blog centric community', where the blog owner is the central identity.

(Source: White 2009)

The second is the 'central connecting topic community', where a common passion links the bloggers.

(Source: White 2009)

The third is the 'boundaried communities', where blog readers are hosted on a single platform, such as LiveJournal.

(Source: White 2009)

In LiveJournal, members can register and express themselves through a private journal, a blog, a discussion forum or a social network. It was pioneered by Brad Fitzpatrick in April 1999 as a fun project, but it eventually grew into a community blogging platform (LiveJournal Inc. 2009). In addition, LiveJournal Inc. has employees who develop new features, applications and ideas for their users (LiveJournal Inc. 2009).


References:

Anthony 2009, 'What is a blogging community?' The Travel Tart, 27 September, viewed 9 November 2009, <http://www.thetraveltart.com/what-is-a-blogging-community/>.

Denise 2009, 'How do you build community?' BlogHer, 3 September, viewed 9 November 2009, <http://www.blogher.com/how-do-you-build-community>.

LiveJournal Inc. 2009, 'About Us', viewed 9 November 2009, <http://www.livejournalinc.com/aboutus.php>.

Skelliewag.org 2007, 'The first month: Building something out of nothing', 18 October, viewed 9 November 2009, <http://www.skelliewag.org/the-first-month-building-something-from-nothing-116.htm>.

White, N 2006, 'Blogs and community-launching a new paradigm for online community?', The Knowledge Tree, 11th edn, viewed 9 November 2009, <http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community>.