FBFF: Blogging Community

[image created by me]

This week, Katy of Modly Chic has us discussing how things have changed in the world of blogging and blogging communities. As she writes in her blog post, "There seems to be less community-minded bloggers and more bloggers interested in personal gain...Is this a sign of a change in the make-up of blogging?"

1) What blogging communities do you belong to? Other than the amazing Fashion Beauty Friend Friday (FBFF) group, I am also a member of Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB). I will admit that I mostly use IFB for their articles and other great resources for bloggers, rather than to actually participate in discussions. I am also a member of The Lost Letters, although I suppose it's more of a pen pal group than a blogging community.

2) What do you think the role of community is in blogging? To me, community is a huge part of blogging. Without participation in a larger community, you have a journal - not a blog. One of the best parts of blogging is that your readers have more opportunities to interact with you. You wouldn't have all these opportunities for direct discussion in other forms of media, so why not take advantage of all the different blogging communities out there?

3) Blog comments, Twitter interactions and meaningful Facebook threads have decreased in the last several months. What are your thoughts on why that is? It's quite simple really; people just have less free time these days. It takes a great deal of time to think of brilliant topics for blog posts and to actually write those posts. I'll admit that I've been slacking off on participating in blog communities for some time. Often, I find that I have limited time to write posts for my own blog, let alone comment on other bloggers'.

I will say this though: No blogger is an island. (Did any other literature geeks out there catch my John Donne reference? Haha.) You can't really expect to become a successful and/or popular blogger if you only focus on yourself and what will benefit you. Community is an inherent part of blogging, no matter how you put it.

4) How do you cultivate community around your blog? Every once in a while, I'll include a question at the end of my posts. After all, I always want to know what my readers think. :) I think I've also gotten better at responding to all the comments I get, even if it's just a simple thank you. I also believe in "comment for a comment." In fact, I've discovered some pretty amazing blogs that way, including At the Pink of Perfection and Star-Crossed Smile. I also have a Facebook page for my blog, as well as a Twitter account. My use of those two tools could definitely use some improvement though.

5) If you could make one resolution to be a better community member, what would it be? Like I just said, I need to make better use of my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Also, I need to get back into leaving more comments for other blogs. I'm hoping to discover even more amazing blogs that way!

What do you think about the various blogging communities out there? I would love to hear all your thoughts in your comments!