At United We Blog!, during the time of our peak, I realized the power of blogging. The way we were getting response and they way in which UWB! and Radio Free Nepal created a whirl in the blogging world by writing about the situation of the country made me question myself in amazement – if a few blogs can do this, what will it be like having a thousand bloggers?
The search for answer of that single question put something into me that I ventured into promoting blogging. I wanted a big Nepali blogoshpere – at least a thousand active bloggers not only a vibrant blog site. The listing of all Nepali blog sites in my personal The Radinat Star and creation of NepaliVoices is certainly a result of that thinking.
What I did that time to promote blogging was giving guest lectures in a few college teaching journalism with help from two of my friends – Bhuwan KC of Kantipur Television, who is also a journalism teacher, and blogger Tilak Pathak. We developed a course called Online Media as Alternative Media and took an hour long classes at Don Bosco, Madan Bhandari Memorial and Kathmandu City College. I don’t know how many participants of those classes began blogging.
My experience in blogging so far has made me learn a few way of promoting blogs – own and others. Here I am listing those so that I believe Nepali bloggers can help each other and create a vibrant blogosphere.
- Link – linking to each other’s blogs is the best way to promote each other’s blogs. It is also sharing readers (but not dividing them as they will continue visiting any blogs that interest them). Linked blogs are also rated high by search engines giving more visibility to the blogs.
- Read & Comment – if bloggers don’t feel like reading blogs then who else? So read the blogs that interest you and always take a minute to comment on blogs (that not only encourages bloggers to write more but also gives a link back to your blog).
- Talk – get in touch with fellow Nepali bloggers for, at least, a social network because you share a similar passion. Keeping in touch with fellow bloggers encourages you and her/him blog more. Compliment or comment on his/her writing through emails and chats.
- Act – tell your friends about your blogs and about Nepali blogosphere. Encourage them to start their own blogs. The more blogs created, the more bloggers will be there and certainly more blog readers.
Just I wanted to write about helping out each other.
