You can share your own ideas, thoughts and other material by creating a blog as well as in posts on social media platforms. — Photo: Christin Klose/dpa-tmn
BERLIN: Open the app, select a photo from your gallery, put a filter on it, write a funny caption, and post it. Or express something in 160 characters along with a couple of smart hashtags. It only takes a few taps to share pictures or thoughts on Instagram, X, and other social media platforms.
But in the days of social media, does anyone still need blogs? Yes, says Insa Schniedermeier, who runs the blog PrettyPrettyWell.com where she writes about women’s health. “Having your own blog simply gives you incredible freedom,” she says.
You have total freedom when it comes to the design and content and aren't restricted by the guidelines of a platform. Blogging is also worthwhile because you can publish more extensive content and put all your interests on one page, Schniedermeier says.
If you want to have your own blog, first ask yourself a few conceptual questions rather than starting with the technical implementation straight away, says Lina Wöstmann, a consultant for media policy and platforms at German IT industry association Bitkom.
The topic is the focus
According to Wöstmann, the central questions before you start are: What topic do I want to blog about? Who should my target group be? Which similar blogs already exist? How much time can I and do I want to put into my blog? How frequently do I want to publish new posts?
For Schniedermeier, too, the right topic is the be-all and end-all. Most new blogs fail pretty quickly. “One way to avoid this is to find a topic that on the one hand has a target group, but that also interests me so much that I want to spend more time with it.”
To measure the level of general interest, she advises using a search engine to research the content already out there about your chosen topic. “And then you should sit down and just try to write down a few headlines for possible articles on your topic.”
If you can easily think of 10 possible titles, the topic probably has enough potential for a blog.
Once you start setting up your blog, decide whether you want to publish it on a hosted platform such as Wordpress, Blogger or Tumblr or host it yourself.
Dont underestimate the technical effort involved in setting up a blog yourself, says Wöstmann. “The freedom to design a blog also involves work,” she says.
Free blogs are simple but limited
Using free blog hosting providers, on the other hand, is easier, but at the same time comes with some restrictions. “There are often fewer functions or, for example, templates to design the layout of the blog,” Wöstmann says.
With free providers, you don't get your own internet address (domain) for the blog - you usually get a sub-domain of the respective provider, she says. It means the name of the provider always appears in the internet address which can make the blog seem less professional.
Anyone who hosts their own blog should be prepared for more work and costs, but will have more freedom when it comes to the design. “In this case, you don’t have to do any programming yourself,” says Wöstmann. “You can use the functions of the corresponding content management systems.”
However, if you want to make adjustments to templates yourself, you usually need at least a basic knowledge of HTML.
And what about promoting your blog once it’s online? This is an ideal place to combine blogging and social media. “Social media is an excellent way to draw attention to your own content,” says Wöstmann. “You can tease your own blog posts or pull out specific content for social media posts.”
Schniedermeier also says that not using social media to promote your blog is wasted potential. “I only started using Instagram when I started my blog,” she says. – dpa
