How Not To Build A Social Network

Is technology a bane or a blessing? If you know, you're smarter than I am because I haven't figured that out yet.

I was one of the first people I knew to own a laptop, and therefore technologically advanced (or was at the time). I bought it when I started my first year in college. Oops, just dated myself! Crazy, I know. You would assume that since I'm an electronics technician, I should be pretty knowledgeable in the technology arena, but I'm not really up to speed web-wise beyond the basics.

So now that I sporadically have time galore on my hands, I've been dabbling to create an online presence through blogging. I did some research on it, surfed blogs, read articles, checked out references, and then dove right in.

Only days later, I've discovered this stuff doesn't just come naturally. There's some work involved, and I've got a lot of catching up to do.
What I've learned so far:

• Know your purpose. If you don't know why you're writing, you can't know who's supposed to be reading it! If you don't know the viewers, how can you know what you should write or how you should promote your site?

• Keep it short. Surfing blogs is time-consuming, and when you have to surf fifty million blogs, the average viewer doesn't want to invest the precious minutes to read your 600-word essay.

• Keep it simple. Make navigation easy so viewers can find the meat of your blog right away. If you want the “ooh, shiny” distraction effect drawing viewers away from your content, I dare you to put a bunch of clutter and buttons all over your page.

• Do your homework while you surf. When you read other blogs, pay particular attention to what you like and dislike about the design and content. You'll soon figure out what to incorporate into your own blog.

There's definitely a lot more advice to polish a blog, but I'm just putting these out because they're all very basic things I didn't do. My blog is still a work in progress, but with the great advice I've gleaned from others more experienced than I, it will just get better and better.
Special Thank You to Elana Johnson!