Balancing Mobile Blogging and The Real World

If you’re using current news as inspiration for your blogging topics, then you’ll want to stay abreast of news while on the go. Using a smart phone is the best way to stay connected, but there are a number of other services that can be utilized with basic mobile web browsers and SMS. Whether you want to use a mobile feed reader in order to keep up with the news, or a mobile blog plugin so you can update an article, you’re options are almost endless.

Feed Readers

Feed readers are important because they sift through all the news and deliver what’s important directly to you. Set up keywords so that the reader knows which articles best suit you. Receive the news on your cell phone via RSS feeds, links in text messages, or on a mobile web browser.
comScore reported that mobile news reader usage has doubled in use from January 2008 to January 2009, so it’s clear that people are looking to stay on top of the news no matter where they are. Services like NewsGator are highly customizable and have a great interface dedicated to mobile use.

But mobile feed readers and news aggregators are only the beginning. Some mobile news services take things a step further and let you redistribute news content directly from their applications. Fluent, for instance, lets you email news content or share it on Facebook or Twitter. Other news readers have a ‘blog this’ button which lets you create a standard blog post directly from a given URL.

Mobile Blogging

This is a broad topic which covers several options for getting your news out there, but you should be blogging from your mobile phone one way or another if you’re gleaning inspiration for blog articles from the news. It shows that you too are on top of things, and have the omnipresent capacity to multitask and create content from your mobile device.

Most blogging applications for standard, traditional posts will give you the basics, such as text, link and image support for platforms such as Wordpress. Many apps have the ability to use your mobile multimedia content for the creation of a blog post, such as images and videos. 12seconds just released a useful iPhone app for publishing videos to its microblogging platform, while TwitPic has been doing the same for images for quite some time.

And speaking of microblogging platforms, don’t forget about these when it comes to mobile blogging. They were designed for mobile use. You don’t always have the time or necessity to create a long-winded blog article on your phone. Rely on Twitter for mobile microblogging, as it is able to integrate with your text messages, and there are several mobile apps like Twitdroid designed specifically for mobile use.

Social Networks Support Mobile Blogging as Well

This is a two-sided prong, because social networks can help you stay on top of the news while also giving you a place to create and share your mobile blog content. Certain social networks such as Facebook provide a rich sharing environment. Look at what your friends are talking about and use this as recommendations for what you could create a blog post about. Once you share this blog post on Facebook, you’re likely to receive great feedback and interaction with your social graph, because you’re catering to their known interests.

Taking a photo from your mobile phone and posting it on Facebook is also another form of mobile blogging. This is likely the easiest way in which to share content with the most relevant people you’re in contact with on the web. Leverage this, encourage redistribution of your content, and further engage these users when you have the time.

Mobile Blogging Lets You Help Create the News

You can keep up with the news while on the go, but creating the news is a great way for you to become a resource and build your brand. I’ve already mentioned a few ways in which you can do this, but let me reiterate the current importance of Twitter when it comes to mobile blogging. Twitter has become the go-to resource for real time news and events. This is because Twitter straddles this fence of being a resource for finding the latest news, as well as a platform for sharing news in real time. Use this to your advantage, then look to various applications or Twitter integrations with services like FriendFeed and Facebook in order to redistribute your tweets and increase your visibility.

Don’t Overwhelm Yourself–or Others

Mobile blogging is great, in short form. Keep things simple and concise. You’ll feel burdened by mobile blogging if you’re trying to write longer posts on a cell phone. Save longer blog posts for when you have time to sit down in a productive environment, where you’re free from distractions and can create a well thought-out article.

And if you’re too involved with tracking news and mobile blogging when you’re out with others, they’ll get pretty upset with you as well. Don’t become antisocial for the purpose of mobile blogging. It’s rude when done in excess (depending on the crowd and the situation). It’s also important to remember that being out and conversing with others allows you to learn from different perspectives. Take advantage of these social situations, and you’ll actually improve your charisma and analytics skill as a result. This will show through in your future writing.

Written by Kristen Nicole from Kristen Nicole
Posted on August 3rd, 2009 and filed under Blogging
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