The definition of a blog or blogger has evolved a LOT over the last few years. It simply is not where it used to be. These days blogs come in so many different styles. Some of the worlds most popular blogs are not even direct domains anymore – they are Instagram feeds or Facebook pages and a good percentage of the posts are simple visuals. I think it is important that blockchain platforms move with the times too.
The reality of the matter is our lives are comprised of moments and when you look at lifestyle blogging from around the world it is precisely those snippets which are what the “consumer” relates to and wants to engage with. Day to day agendas do not always allow for heavy set reading or writing for that matter – and it is about time that is taken into consideration and accommodated.
The Lifestyle Lounge community is open to embracing this reality. I want people to know that shorter, more photographically driven posts are ABSOLUTELY welcome on our feed - but they need to meet a few criteria which should be easy enough for all of you wishing to share such content to manage.
We ALL want to share moments of our life – but we can do it in an aesthetically pleasing, professional and informative manner. Make the post useful and interesting to the people who decide to click on it. Don’t just post a pic of the plate of food you made – nobody really cares what you ate for dinner, unless you give them a reason to.
If it is something you made yourself, then you could add one or two of the prep photos too and then explain what it is that you made. Make it interesting! Are there any nutritional benefits which the reader may care to know about or uncommon ingredients? Basically what I am saying is that you can make a short post interesting without having to write more than a few lines. If you ate the meal at a restaurant, you could do more than take a pic of the plate in front of you. How about adding a shot or two of the establishment, tell us where it is – add a map pin even. Did you enjoy the meal? What was the service like etc.
Lifestyle blogs do not always have to be extensive, but they do need to be of use to the readers. The entire purpose of a lifestyle blog is to offer something to others – not simply share your random day to day events – UNLESS of course that entails some kind of positive or inspirational message which is thought provoking.
Let me show you a couple of examples of really promising lifestyle posts which have been shared to our community feed in the last couple of days.
Here is a post I spotted by @sergiomendes earlier today. A simple introduction to a local and vegan friendly product which he discovered and bought. Five photos and a brief description of the product and why he decided to buy it - BUT, the photos CLEARLY show the product name so anybody else interested in buying them would most likely be able to locate them online. An added location and/or website link and perhaps the cost of the product would have been even more awesome - but I think you catch my drift.
Here is another POST I spotted published by @marcoferrari82. Again, a simple post about a pastry shop/bar visited. A few lovely pics of the place, a little info about the experience and then a Google maps link. The images tell a story of the place all on their own, showing it from a "real life" perspective and not that of an advertisement, which presents the reader with something useful... "hmm, that looks nice - I think I would like to go there" or "omg that looks terrible."
Again, there are also many ways in which you can get creative with the presentation of visual posts. There must be hundreds of apps available to help you with this, but collages ALWAYS look awesome (SQUARE ones in particular)! Drop one of those into a post with a little background on whatever it is you are sharing and hey presto you have an epic looking lifestyle post. Let me give you a "short blog" example with some old pics of mine....
Creamy Prawn Fusilli
Made this SUPER simple Fusilli prawn dish the other night.
I was really lazy so I even bought a ready made white sauce! I bought the frozen prawns and fried them in a little butter until they started to turn golden. I added some diced fresh green bell pepper which added a super crunch and pop to the dish!
Once the pasta was cooked, I simply threw it all together, added the ready made white sauce, the prawns and the pepper and then topped it with some finely grated parmesan cheese.
It was SUPER TASTY!
Will definitely be making this again!
Have you made anything similar?
I would love to hear some of your creative combos that are easy peasy too!
See?!
Simple, attractive, informative & useful!
Whether it is about food, an outing, a review, an experience, a product or place - short visual posts CAN be successful! Some communities on Hive may not approve of them, because they may not be suitable for those specific niches - but the Lifestyle Lounge welcomes them on the basis that they are professional, and WORTH something to the reader - as explained and outlined in this post.
Happy Snapping & Sharing!
Oh... and Happy Friday too!
❤❤❤
Until next time...
Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
JOIN US ON DISCORD
SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIFESTYLE LOUNGE COMMUNITY HERE
JOIN US ON TWITTER
ALL IMAGES ARE MY PROPERTY UNLESS OTHERWISE CREDITED
This is excellent advice, and something we try to impress upon newbies in @theterminal. A post on any topic can be embellished with a little info, and it does't have to be excessively wordy. Also, every one of us have personal experiences to share, so hours of research is not necessary — speaking of "why you like this food" or "why you photographed that building" goes a long way into making a post better!
Another thing to note is that we do, indeed, have people on the Hive blockchain who are blind or visually-challenged and have software that reads posts to them through the speakers on their computer. If there is no text, then all they will hear is something like: "Photo of a plate of food" and nothing more. But, if there are a couple of sentences of text that can describe the dish, or speak of the restaurant, then value has been added for those people.
As you said, making posts interesting will urge people to click and read — and hopefully upvote or comment! I also like to remind people that your blog is a reflection of you, as a person, and is a reflection of the Hive blockchain in general. How can anyone be expected to be taken seriously if their posts are nothing but a photo with no additional info, or a meme and nothing more? And how are we expected to speak positively about Hive and onboard more people if we have too many shitposts with no redeeming value?
"Bravo!" for bringing your advice into the limelight and sharing examples! 🙂
I completely agree! I'm a newcomer in Hive, so looking foward to implement all of this! Thank you so much for your insight
Blogging have really evolved alot and it's no longer about writing and writing and writing.
Like you said, using such graphics in our contents are also Okay. It's acceptable as far as people do not go into spamming all in the name of Making graphic contents.
I know that this will make it easier for people to express themselves on their blogpage and most especially in this community.
Well Done
I wish o could such lovely photos though. 😔
And you don’t want to forget when all the editing, photographing and work is done they must post in the community Lifestyle lounge!
I guess all my posts about my house and the progress thereof have been out of place here @jaynie , I'll try to do better
Your DIY home posts are super Jerry - I am just trying to give people a clearer understanding of what the purpose of a lifestyle blog is. :) Essentially, whilst relating to your own life and experiences it simultaneously offers something useful to the reader.
JOIN US ON DISCORD
SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIFESTYLE LOUNGE COMMUNITY HERE
JOIN US ON TWITTER
This is very informative and enlightening, I learnt alot about how to make interesting post and carrying readers along. Thank you for the invitation to discord too am sure I will do better after reading all these.
Everything is interesting to me, what can I say?
Will learn!