Value
It seems many more bloggers are coming into the field now with motivations to make money, become famous, get a better job. This is fine, and in fact I try to help people do those things, but if we go in with selfish motivations only then we will miss out on many of the things that make blogging so cool.
Therefore "value" has to be top of our minds. What are you giving, as well as taking back?
Community
Community leads on from the previous point. We have to serve, include, engage and most of all respect our community.
Few blogs exist in a vacuum, and unlike a broadcast medium, our audience does not just have to passively accept and consume, but they interact and are highly likely to be our peers as much as prospects.
So we have to have discussions, not talk down but across, and hold on to our values.
Balance
This might be a controversial one, as I know many bloggers love a good fight. It seems the snarkiness, attacks, and gossip are not going to go away, but at the same time there seems a growing vigilantism. I fully support people tracking down real bad guys, but I worry people are too willing to go on the attack now, and the consequences one day soon will be irreversible.
Before you go on the offensive, I think it serves everybody better to try and find both sides of a story, show some empathy, and consider your position.
Not only will you pay more respect to the people involved, it will also raise your respect in the eyes of your audience, or at the very least, might prevent you from having egg on your face.
What do you think?
About the author: Chris Garrett is a new media commentator and internet marketing coach living in the UK. You can find him regularly writing for clients such as Cogniview, the PDF to Excel People, and his own blog at chrisg.com
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