Thank god someone is finally working on a way to save blogging. With microblogging's popularity, the new scrolling platform at Facebook and a whole generation of texters, it just makes sense to make blogging platforms closer in similarity to our new standards of communication.
I have been a big fan of TypePad for quite a while. This past year has been one of change for them as they drastically changed the user interface, added better SEO functions and more effective stats services. Not long ago, they introduced profiles for bloggers, now microblogs. And with the integration of posting to multiple platforms simultaneously, TypePad is setting itself up to be my new Command Central.
I decided to test out this new microblog service by creating one for my Portland Foodie Blog. Now, this will not replace Portland Foodie...for one thing, I will need the space to post longer amounts of content. Portland Foodie Bites (catchy title, eh?) will focus on smaller chunks of content, foodie news, photos, videos and the like. In a way, it is like TwitWall or Tumblr. A hybrid between the looooong (?!?) 250 word blog posts and the scant 140 characters available for a Tweet.
The blog format is set up to look more like an all inclusive social media profile. My bio and picture are to the left, then a long list of links to all of my profiles. I also added a Twitter feed and a Facebook Fan Page feed. Then, I crafted my first witty message...ok, maybe the first wasn't that witty, but the second...now there's a great post!
It is a brand new service, so some hiccups are to be expected. Like for some reason, I can't get Twitter to interface and auto post...but that could just as easily be Twitter's fault. Also, the designs are very limited, as is the customizing of the sidebar. In the future, it would be great if Facebook Connect and the Twitter Visitor Widgets were easily added...as well as other social media widgets. And making it easier to search and find other blogger profiles would be grand.
I look forward to testing it out. It may be that I choose to switch one of my blogs to an exclusively microblog format. I applaud TypePad for giving it a go! I wrote a sister post about microblogging and publishing over at my real job website, Cool Springs Press...see what you think!
