So finally the Christmas decorations have been taken down, the last of the mince pies have been eaten, the new-years eve hangover has passed and our thoughts turn in earnest to looking forward to the year ahead. A new year is a time for thinking of the future and making new plans, not just those same old resolutions that you make every year – lose some weight, do more exercise, learn a new language, improve your unicycling skills – but also plans for your online life.
So much has changed over the last year with the explosion of Twitter, the enormous growth of Facebook, the spread of online video as a means of conversation and every site now having a “social” aspect, now is a good time to reassess your own online spaces and how you make use of the various services and products that you use.
For me, 2008 was a huge year for my online presence. I went from being an ex-blogger with nothing much to say, to having a very popular site that is now at the number 2 spot in Google searches for my town (behind Wikipedia!). And that’s not the only change.
My usage of social media has altered a lot over the last 12 months. I am finding myself using Twitter more and more as a means for news. Google Reader used to be my first port of call each day, but now I find I can keeping up with both world events and the latest technology gossip just by reading my Twitter stream. My feed reader will therefore be trimmed to only that which I cannot pick up on Twitter.
I started 2008 with lots of “friends” on Facebook, many of whom I wasn’t actually friends with and many of whom I didn’t even know. Then I realised how daft this was and so 2009 will see Facebook stripped down to only those folk that I really want to stay in touch with.
Having rather lost my blogging mojo toward the end of last year, I now find myself reinvigorated and eager to write more. I plan to increase my writing frequency, even if it means my posts are shorter, so there is always something new on the site.
I also plan to make more use of my other, barely-used personal blog, which has been somewhat neglected, but offers me the chance to write about different subjects. This fits in with my plans to expand my writing beyond speaking about our life here in France.
I have several thousand photos on Flickr and in 2009 I would like to think that I start to do more with them. I have featured several of my favourites in blog posts and here in the Fuellers Got Talent section, but I think there’s a lot more I could do. Now is the time for me to plan what that “more” could be.
So my blogging priorities for 2009 are
- to cut out the unnecessary services and consolidate
- make more of my “primary” services (blogs & Twitter)
- develop better ideas for using my photos.
What are your blogging priorities for 2009 Fuellers? How has your online life changed over the last 12 months? Lets hear your plans in the comments!
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From The FMB Blog Your 2009 blogging priorities: So finally the Christmas decorations have been.. http://tinyurl.com/956ddq
I am going to try and lower my standards, which will be trés difficult and also, to come out of my shell and leave the odd comment or two here and there……… ooooo, and blogsnog as many goddesses as I can before the TG breaks my fingers …….
From The FMB Blog Your 2009 blogging priorities http://tinyurl.com/956ddq
It needs a makeover and I finally have my own dot com addy to use. I also need a page for my publishing clips and one for the book reviewing I fell into late in the year.
I am reading a book on Ajax right now, which is a way of implementing Java. I want to use it on my blogs to make some interactive tools, but I also have an idea for a site that I want to create. As a result, I might end up putting my blogs on the back burner while I work my way through this book and probably one or two others.
Facebook.. check… Twitter.. check… flickr … check
Richard what an interesting post. I had not thought much where I am heading blog wise in 2009 (that is how I blog) but I do know I am now a 70s teen that has dropped into the 80s .. ..
I had a wee make over at my blog before Christmas and it is still snowing over there (I like the snow effect) but I need a major make over.
This first quarter of the year is way, way busy (work wise and personally) so I will be treading water until about late March … after that you may see a brand new me.
I’ve given up on all my blogging dreams in order to chase the one thing I’ve never been able to accomplish…
… getting Daddy Papersurfer to actually send me those shoeS. Yes… I meant to make that last ’s’ an upper case ‘S’. I said shoessssss, not shoe. He’d like to think he’s sent me one, but in fact, all he did was post me a picture of one flip-flop.
ONE.
It’s like -4683 here in Saskatchewan right now, and he expects me to wear a flip-flop! ONE.
You can see why I’d give up on everything until I find a way to make this shoe thing happen… now, can’t you?
The things I have to endure…
A one legged person would be hopping grateful …… not hopping mad.
I shall make every effort this year to rectify the situation ……. after I’ve had a little lie down ………
Perhaps you should ask Richard to help you with some motivation? Reading his post, it seems he’s quite on the ball now and could probably give you some helpful tips.