Love Your Blog Challenge: Interaction and Community

It's the first Monday in April, so it's time to start the Love Your Blog Challenge with A Playful Day!

This week we're talking about Interaction and Community. Kate has a great post about how The Blog Is Not Dead--food for thought. And a sentiment I certainly agree with.

Over the last year or so, I've occasionally toyed with the idea of launching a podcast--whether it is the nature of the podcast itself or a natural gift of those inclined to podcast, they seem to encourage the development of a strong community of listeners.

At the end of the day, though, my interest has always been writing. (It's one of the reasons I'm a translator and not an interpreter!) I express myself best through the written word, whether it's a blog post or a 140-character tweet. And I hope you'll agree that carefully considered blog posts (if more infrequent than I would like!) trump a poorly thrown together podcast.

The death of Google Reader struck an unfortunate blow to blogs. Good Reader made it easy to follow all of your favorite blogs in one easy-to-use, easy-to-read format. None of the reader services developed in its absence have matched its popularity (though I recommend giving Bloglovin' a shot), and blogs have suffered. It's a setback I hope we as bloggers can overcome!

I do believe blogs offer an opportunity to create a community--in fact, I was happy to see that SquareSpace's blog service allows me to respond to comments, which is something I always felt Blogger was lacking. While an immediate back-and-forth with a blogger may not be possible directly through the blog platform, it still acts as a home base for developing and sharing thoughts and ideas, which can be further explored through communities like Ravelry and social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. 

So, go show your favorite blog some love today--leave a comment, share a post, pin a photo. In the face of interactive social media, blogs may appear static, but they're the birthplaces of the stories and ideas we love to share.