Social Networking
One of the most important parts of building a successful blog is creating a community around it. Social networking gives bloggers the opportunity to interact with like-minded individuals who may be interested in reading more from the blogger thereby potentially increasing traffic to his or her blog.
Social networking sites allow users to create groups around similar interests and make connections with people from all walks of life. It also gives bloggers a chance to interact with new people who may not find their blogs through keyword searches. In short, social networking provides one more portal for bloggers to get their names and messages in front of people who may be interested in visiting their blogs
The Social Web
The second generation of the Internet came about in the early 2000s and was called Web 2.0 or the social web. No longer were people satisfied being talked at. Instead, they wanted to join the conversation and have a say in the World Wide Web. The evolution of the social web began with user-generated content. Personal websites, forums and online chats became just a few of the standard features of Web 2.0 and made way for blogs, social networking, social bookmarking and more.
Blogging and the Social Web
Blogging is an integral part of the social web. A blog's success relies heavily on its community of readers. That community is typically built through online networking and promotion through the various tools of the social web. From bookmarking important posts to participating in relevant forums, a blogger's online activities within the social web can make or break a blog's success.
Social Bookmarks
Social bookmarking occurs when users share their bookmarked web pages via social bookmarking communities. When you share your blog posts through social bookmarking, you can increase traffic to your blog. Alternatively, when you view other users' bookmarks, you can find new blogs to read, new post ideas, new conversations to start, new communities to join for further networking and more
Microblogging
Twitter is a free micro-blogging tool that allows users to publish short messages (140 characters or less) through their computers and mobile phones. Twitter launched in 2007 and nearly 1 million people were using it within one year of its debut.
People who use Twitter write short messages, called Tweets, which they publish either publicly (for all Twitterers to see) or privately (for only certain Twitterers to see). Typically, users will sign up to follow other users whose Tweets they enjoy. For this reason, Twitter can be a great tool for networking, relationship-building and promoting blogs.
Businesses also use Twitter to promote products and services and offer real-time customer service. Twitter provides an excellent source of free publicity.