Everyone has an opinion. Before the Internet and blogging options such as Wordpress those opinions were usually pretty personal. Friends would probably know your opinion on something, maybe their friends would too. That was about it, unless you were on television or the radio, maybe even a columnist for a newspaper. With the power of the Internet people just like you are able to put their opinions online and have someone across the world read it. That doesn’t mean they will support it like your friends do but that person you have never met before can read your opinion and react to it. Either positively or negatively, a reaction is a reaction. The steps to get your opinion online may seem daunting, it really isn’t all that hard.
“Opinions are protected under the right to freedom of speech, as long as you are not slandering someone without proof. The openness of the Internet allows opinions and ideas to flow naturally throughout the world.” Says Chicago lawyer, Jonathan Rosenfeld.
Taking on the task of putting your opinion online starts with making the decision to do so. For some, this may be writing about their favorite pastime such as a sports team or television show. It could be writing about their hobby or something close to their hearts. Blogging in today’s world is much more open than it was in the early days of the Internet when it was more “technical” and content was not well rounded. This was due to the complexity of getting something online.
When blogging services such as Wordpress and Google’s Blogger came along, it opened the Internet to the opinions of millions of people. It is not just bloggers that use these services, many businesses do too since they are easy and cheap methods of getting content up and available for readers. Still, people with an opinion are the number one users of these services.
As Mr. Rosenfeld mentioned above, you are safe in your opinion as long as you are not attacking someone without proof. An easy rule to remember about writing and posting things to the Internet is – if you wouldn’t say it to their face, don’t say it online. There are consequences for either action so keeping things civil is usually key for most bloggers.
Wordpress and Blogger offer simple to use interfaces that are clearly setup to maximize writing over figuring out the software. There are plugins, software you can install, that will expand the range of use that both Wordpress and Blogger offer. These plugins also add to the complexity of the service, if you are not careful. For many bloggers it is important to know a little bit of information on their readers. Such as how many per day are visiting, what they are reading and how many pages they are reading per visit. This would be a statistics plugin.
If you are wanting to know the opinion of your readers, more than what the built-in comments section offers, then you can install other pieces of software. Maybe you would like to offer a simpler method of showing support for an article. You can install a poll plugin, a ratings plugin or social media buttons so readers can easily share your blog with their friends.
The range of options that Wordpress and Blogger, among other similar services, offer can be staggering but with a little bit of effort you can learn it quickly. Just remember, blog about something close to you and fans will come.
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