BLOG 1 - WORD PRESS: SOCIAL NETWORK OR BLOG?

To kick off this first blog, I have a question - Who said blogs were #dead?!

Well, let's begin with exploring the differences between a ‘blog’ and ‘social networking site’ to see if they really are ‘dead’.

(Faunstino 2021)

Social network sites (SNSs) are internet systems that enable individuals to develop a public or semi-public account within a confined system, create a group of other individuals with whom they share a connection, and read and navigate their list of contacts as well as those produced by those within the system (Boyd and Ellison 2008, p. 211).

A blog is a type of website or web page that is continually updated that can be used for personal or business reasons (Forsey 2022). According to Jesse James Garrett's list, there were 23 blogs on the internet in 1999 (Chapman 2011). By the mid-twenties, the volume of blogs had increased dramatically, with more than 152 million active blogs by the end of 2010 (Chapman 2011), indicating that #mainstreammedia was in full force.

So the question is - WordPress a blogging platform or a social networking site?

WordPress is in fact both!

WordPress began as a blogging platform, and blogs continue to be one of the most prevalent forms of websites produced on the platform - blogs were the first contemporary type of mass media. Through the 'Discover' function, WordPress has grown to enable you to interact with other users.

Showcasing a set of suggested and popular blogs that have been put on the platform, helping readers to explore new blogs and browse content that they may not have encountered in their normal web searches (WordPress 2022a). WordPress can now be accessed on the move thanks to the adoption of mobilisation, as it's now a downloadable application that maximises the idea of sociality.

(Stapleton 2017)

BuddyPress is often referred to as the #socialnetworkinginabox. With this extension, you can convert any WordPress site into a social network, allowing you to establish a strong foundation for any social media network by:

• User profile creation and maintenance

• Send messages to other users

• Friendships can be added and removed

• Group formation and membership

• Taking part in forum conversations (Kabir Aion 2021)

With all of this information, what I'm trying to say is that almost everyone nowadays reads blogs, whether they're "official" news blogs linked with conventional media, topic-based blogs related to one's business or interests, or blogs merely for fun (Chapman 2011).

WordPress is home to a large number of sites covering a wide range of themes, allowing your social networking capabilities to be boosted whether you're a blogger trying to build a network around a certain issue or a company seeking to actively engage its clients.

Do you have an opposing viewpoint on WordPress? - Please leave a comment below!

References:

Boyd, DM & Ellison, NB 2008, ‘Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship’, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 210–230.

Clark B, 2012, Since when are blogs not social media?, Copy Blogger, viewed 18 March 2022, <https://copyblogger.com/blogs-social-media/#:~:text=Blogs%20are%20social%20(and%20alternative)%20media&text=Technologies%20include%3A%20blogs%2C%20picture%2D,modern%20form%20of%20social%20media>.

Chapman C, 2011, A brief history of blogging, Web Designer Depot, viewed 18 March 2022, <https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/03/a-brief-history-of-blogging/#:~:text=The%20term%20was%20created%20to,1999%20by%20programmer%20Peter%20Merholz>.

Faustino, A, ‘Is Blogging Dead?’ [image], in Blogging Fastlane 2021, Is Blogging Dead? | What Every Blogger Should Know to Grow Their Blog in 2021, viewed 22 March 2022, <https://www.bloggingfastlane.com/is-blogging-dead/>.

Forsey C, 2022, What is a blog and why should you create one, Hubspot, viewed 18 March 2022, <https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-is-a-blog>.

Kabir Aion, M 2017, How to create social networking site with WordPress for free, weDevs, viewed 18 March 2022, <https://wedevs.com/blog/95222/create-wordpress-social-networking-site-using-buddypress/>.

Stapleton, K, ‘The importance of digital marketing for practitioners’ [image], in Transformational, Solution Focused Therapy, Coaching & Training in 2017, viewed 22 March 2022, <https://www.hypnotic-downloads.com/blog-for-therapists-practitioners/2017/10/29/the-importance-of-digital-marketing-for-pratitioners>.

WordPress(a), 2022, How to create a social media website, WordPress, viewed 18 March 2022, <https://wordpress.com/go/how-to/how-to-create-a-social-media-website/>.

WordPress(b), 2022, Getting featured on discover, WordPress, viewed 18 March 2022, <https://wordpress.com/support/getting-featured-on-discover/>.