Blogging Generation Y
My 14 year old started a blog a couple of weeks ago. He already has six posts up! His blog is about describing and reviewing his online techie hobbies, in hopes of getting others hooked on some of his fun gaming discoveries. I guess I could be sorry that he isn’t writing a blog about great poetry, or current events, or humanitarian efforts around the world…but I’m not. I’m actually just thrilled that he is writing. And at the risk of sounding biased, he is actually a darn good writer!
But his new foray into the blogosphere got me thinking about how unique it is to be a teenager in 2008. Gone are the lock-and-key diaries, and in are live journals, where you spill your guts to the faceless masses. Gone are teacher-assigned product reviews. Who needs ‘em? Teens are writing real reviews everyday on consumer sites such as Amazon, epinions, and my3cents.com. And forget short stories! Many teenagers have ongoing fan fiction sites, where they work alone or collaboratively to create entire novels. Maybe even without realizing it, generation Y is writing more than ever before.
Almost every nook and cranny of a teenagers life has become hijacked by the medium of words. Cell phone texting, instant messaging, commenting on social networking sites, Twittering - - its all about language, baby! So it is natural, I suppose, that teens would be making a bigger and bigger dent in the blogosphere. In fact, according to Intelliseek, almost eight million teenagers are blogging about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.
That’s not such a surprising figure when you think about what it means to be a teenager. You are asserting your independence. You are wanting to be taken seriously. You have a lot of injustices and dramas occurring on a daily basis, and need somewhere to vent. All of these are terrific reasons for starting a blog.
If you are a teenager, or know of a teenager who has been wishing they could have their own blog, but didn’t know where to start, we’d like to help. We offer two online courses in blogging. One is a free course, called Get Ready to Blog, that will familiarize you with the language and safety issues involved in blogging (especially important in the case of teen bloggers). Our other course, Blogging 101, is a more in-depth look at blogging, and it will guide you every step of the way through setting up and designing your blog, learning to write interesting content, and building your readership. This is an incredibly fun way to learn how to blog, because your fellow classmates are your first “blogging buddies,” who will be reading and commenting on your posts, giving you feedback, and expecting the same in return.
Whether you are a teenager, a thirty-something, or eighty years young, you have something to say. You don’t have to be a member of Generation Y to realize the power of words….so get blogging!!
