From politicians and pop stars to the people next door, it seems just about everyone’s blogging and for eco-friendly kids, there’s probably no better way of making their thoughts and ideas on the future of the planet known to the wider world.
Like all things internet, blogging comes with the usual mix of possible benefits and potential dangers, so all the normal precautions apply when it comes to security and parental oversight, but with a little age-appropriate guidance, the eco blog has a lot to offer.
Perhaps best of all, with the rise of straightforward, user-friendly blogging providers offering simple templates and ‘push-button’ publishing, you don’t need a computing degree to create something appealing, which means that getting started could hardly be easier.
Getting Started
The first thing to do is to find a home for your blog – and that means choosing a provider. As a quick internet search will show, there’s no shortage of options and most of them offer basically the same kind of service – predefined layouts and easy interfaces to make the job of updating simple for even the least ‘techie’ amongst us. It’s obviously still worth checking to see which offer the most suitable levels of protection for you and your family, both from what you might call general online risks and in terms of the personal information they require from their users, just to be on the safe side.
Once you’ve signed up and created your account, the next step is to have a look through the gallery to pick a suitable template to create the right look for your blog. It’s a matter of personal taste, of course, and depends on what you’re expecting to be saying, but it’s definitely worth taking the time over this, no matter how anxious you might be to start sharing your eco-insights with the rest of world. Depending on the service you’ve chosen, you can usually personalise the standard versions, or design something from scratch for yourself if you prefer. Aim for something that complements your personality and the issues but isn’t too ‘busy’ – overly-cluttered designs, however eye-catching and artistic, can often be a nightmare to read. That said, it’s your blog, so the only person it really has to please is you.
What To Write
Now you’re ready for that all-important first post – but what are you going to say? Just like the overall look, the content is really up to the blogger, although a spot of parental guidance over the kind of information being disclosed and the tone, if things look to be getting too heated, might be advisable from time to time! Your eco blog can be:
- A place to share your thoughts on environmental news stories.
- Somewhere to campaign for a particular issue.
- A record of your own eco projects.
- A log of what’s been happening in your pond or wildlife garden.
- A ‘how-to’ guide to tree planting, energy saving or recycling.
- Somewhere to share eco ideas, poems, artwork.
- A place to inspire other eco-friendly kids.
Sometimes it can be a little difficult when you first start out to know exactly what direction to take, but that’s nothing to worry about. Once you get into the habit of regular blogging, you’ll probably find that it will develop naturally – and it may well go places that you perhaps weren’t expecting at the outset. That’s half the fun of a blog; it often takes on a bit of a life of its own!
Think About Your Readers
One thing you’ll need to think about at the start is whether you want the blog to be a public one that anyone on the internet can read, or private for just the people you invite to see. Going world-wide obviously increases the number of potential readers you can have, but depending on what you’re blogging about, it may not be appropriate for the entire online population of the globe to be able to drop in and find out. It’s another one of those personal decisions and once again it’s an area for some parental input.
The best blogs are living things, which encourage contributions from their readers and create interaction with the blogger, so think about adding some of the ‘extras’ such as guest maps, guest books, comment boxes, tag-boards, imoods and blog chalks to improve the experience.
So that’s it. You’re now the proud owner of a brand new eco blog. All that remains is to publish the URL on your website, send it to friends and family, add it to your email signature and wait to see how things develop from here.
Whatever you’ve chosen to blog about, enjoy doing it – and happy eco blogging!
but im wondering…………where can i start a blog?