Do you 'get' blogging?

I had lunch with a good friend of mine today. My studies had ensured we hadn't spoken for a while and it was nice to be able to catch up on all the news from the world of real estate. As often happens these days the conversation turned to the Internet and he made the comment that he just wasn't excited about blogging. It's a comment I completely understand.

Around the middle of this year, I hadn't blogged a word. I knew about blogs at an intellectual level but that's as far as it went. My first post questioned how a small business could make use of a blog. I was openly skeptical.

The funny thing is that just a few months later I'm blogging like crazy and am excited about it. There's so many ways a blog can be used at both a personal and business level. If you want an some ideas visit Andy Wibbels.

What I've discovered about blogging is that it's an experiential learning process. Simply reading this post or Andy's blog will never explain blogging properly - or well. Blogging can only be understood by doing and being.

I hope my mate (and a bunch of other friends too) take up blogging. There's two reasons I have for this wish. Firstly. he'd make a damned fine blogger. As a thinker he's first class and his blog would be useful for his team, his customers, and his colleagues. Secondly, there are very few bloggers in the WA real estate market. By starting now he could steal a march on the competitors and be a real leader in the industry.

Now the test will be to see whether anyone has read my blogging tips on commenting.

Web trends

Couple of useful sites for measuring how your blog is performing.

Market Leap

Alexa

My blog hasn't even made it onto the radar screen yet. Ah well, best I keep it quite.

Trulia Real Estate Search - Jobs

Trulia Real Estate Search - Jobs: "We are looking for a very talented communicator and social networker to act as the Community Evangelist for Trulia among the real estate 2.0 community. That means that you should already be active in various social networks - for example, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Yelp, Active Rain, Trulia Voices, etc. Ideally you actively contribute to your own blog, and have a list of blogs that you love to read regularly. You should have an opinion on how technology is affecting agent marketing and ideas on how to help agents better market themselves online. You will be a Trulia Voice in the community, and must be passionate about technology and how technology is affecting real estate. "

Now this is a job that appeals. Only problem it's in the US.

When porn turned parody turns into farce

Here it is, one of the biggest jokes circulating the Internet today. As reported on the Lessig Blog, social bookmarking site, Digg, has removed what they call "adult content" despite all of the content of the video having been previously shown on the Fox News Network.

Cool work Digg, nice to see you becoming the new world censorship authority. The world needs another one - not!

UPDATE: As of last night Digg has done the right thing and removed the restriction.

A real Web 2.0 real estate platform

I posted yesterday to Twitter that I thought realestate.com.au was so Web 1.0 - it's flat out boring and feels like it's been produced by a monopoly media company - hmmm. That aside, take a look at Zillow. Now here's a real estate platform - and note the word platform not portal - that provides the interactivity that makes a site worth visiting. Take a poke around and see how it provides people with "ownership" of their information and the way people can add value to the site and to their own experience by publishing information that's relevant to their own circumstances.

Is Zillow coming to Australia any time soon? Perhaps the API platform allows this to happen now. Someone who's a bit techie might be able to tell me.

Google search the platform

By allowing Google to track my web browsing, Google becomes a more effective knowledge management platform.

Who owns the wisdom of the crowd? The crowd. | Buzz Machine

Jeff Jarvis sets out the case for people who contribute to a platform being rewarded for their contribution, possibly beyond just being able to conduct a free search. He says,

The thing that’s new about this new world is that we don’t just consume. In fact, the act of consumption is now an act of creation. There are so many examples. When I search on Google, I am finding stuff for me but when I click, I am adding to the wisdom of the crowd that makes Google more effective for every searcher who follows me.

While I'm not convinced that we should be sharing in Google's ad revenue that they might pick up when I do a search and click on a paid link, Jarvis goes on to make the point that our individual actions create collective value.

When I consume content and want to save it on Del.icio.us or other such services, that’s an individual act. But the tags we create together yield amazing wisdom of the crowd that can be useful in helping people discover content, in organizing the web around topics again, in improving search results, and even in improving ad performance.

I contend that, power-users of sites such as Google, Flickr and YouTube aside, most people's payoff from participation on a platform is better search, a chance at accidental fame, and faster access to information. At least that's the payoff I'm happy with, but then again I may be too easily satisfied.