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Create Your Own Mobile Blog
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First,
what's a moblog? A moblog, or a mobile blog, is an online record of
anything you feel like sharing with the world, whether they want it or
not. The difference between moblogging and regular blogging is that you
use your phone or Pocket PC to post text or pictures.
There are obvious advantages to this. If you get inspired in the
middle of a meadow, at your favorite local watering hole, or on a road
trip, you won't have to wait until you can get back to your desktop to
send your thoughts and photos to the world.
Though moblogging isn't new, it has been gaining popularity and
attention, though I don't think the uses of it have been fully
explored. It seems a perfect way, for instance, for a real estate agent
to show new properties to clients. I've been looking around for a house
lately, and I'm frustrated by the lack of pictures on real estate
sites. If an agent had a mobile blog, she could take pictures and
immediately send them to her moblog.
Then she could call her client on their Smartphone and say something
like, 'hey, I just listed a house that seems to be what you're looking
for. I'm standing right in front of it. I posted pictures to my moblog.
Take a look, and if you like it, you can see it right away.' |  |
| In
less then five minutes the client could look at the pictures on the
agent's moblog on their own mobile device, decide if they like it, call
her back, pull up the address on their Pocket Streets map (shameless plug). No time wasted. |
| There is a text only, bare bones site designed for mobile device viewing. The only company I've seen offer this is Winksite.
You can bring in your favorite mobile feeds, add a forum, add a survey,
add announcements, and add a chat. The developers put in a lot of
functionality, but kept the user interface simple. If you have a forum
on a mobile phone, you probably don't worry about color and style.
However, it may discourage some from posting, as they're used to mobile
sites with photos. I think Winksite would be great for poets –
especially those who write Haiku.
Earthcam adds
a twist to the usual photo blog. With a paid subscription, $4.95 US a
month at the time I wrote this, you can access Web cams around the
world on your phone. You can also set up your own Web cam on your
desktop computer, and view it on your phone. This could be useful for
people who want to see their children during the day, or check on a
pet. "Nanny or Fido Phones" could be the next big thing.
How do you pick the right moblog? I tested out several sites. What I looked for was: Don't make me think. Easy instructions and FAQs that don't have 'how do I find my blog on the Web site' as the last choice. Privacy.
Allow me to keep my pictures private, or a mix of public and private. I
don't want to share pictures of my family with the world, but if I
happen to see Elvis or a Yeti, I might want to post my proof. Features. I liked the extra features of a forum and survey offered by Winksite, and the Web cam feature from EarthCam. Personalization.
I want my blog to look pretty. Offer me an easy way to change
templates, even if I'm not a developer or a designer. Textamerica does
a good job there.
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| | You'll
have your own laundry list of features that you want. Shop around, try
the free version that most offer, and have fun. Many sites also offer
features that allow you to cross-post – you can send pictures and text
from your mobile blog to your regular blog and vice versa.
Once you've chosen your moblog, be sure and add the e-mail address you
need to post your pictures to in your contacts, and add the URL of your
site to your mobile favorites.
Source: Microsoft.com
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