Dipping first toe into blogging

After hearing for months about the phenomenon of social media, it was not a minute too soon when I learned of the Betty Blogger training course.

I am deeply involved in community issues and colleagues keep telling me about the potential offered by social media. They say that this is a highly effective way to reach others, particularly young adults, who have an interest in their community but are not engaged through traditional means, such as meetings or newpapers. I have a reasonable understanding of the utility of the classic website but am at a loss when others talk about engagement through the new social media tools.

This was particularly frustrating when I participated in a recent conference under the title "ChangeCamp". Other participants (almost all of them much younger than I am) were interested in the same issues as am I, but they seemed to be engaged in way that I did not comprehend. In the midst of the meeting, they all seemed to be communicating electronically. While I was involved in one discussion group at a time, they seemed to be simultaneously participating in several.

All this stimulated me to jump at the chance for a friendly introduction to Web 2.0, thanks to the Betty Blogger course.