I remember when I first started blogging because I used a rather simple platform which afforded me only the most minimal technological tools to help shape and promote my blog posts. I remember when there was no automation, no massive social media tools, and word-of-mouth was usually the way bloggers got the word out about their new columns. In fact, I was moderately resistant to utilizing social media to advance my posts, but I found that I had no other choice if I needed my viewership to increase. However, the process itself required considerable legwork that I truly wished there had been more sufficient tools at my disposal.

In the past few years, technology has reconstructed things in such a dramatic fashion that I find it slightly challenging to attempt to keep up with all the current trends. Some may complain and desire less complex times, but as professionals like Andrew Charlton would assert, technological strides that lead to automation are not necessarily undesirable. In fact, these reforms should be viewed as a positive thing that can potentially cause small-time bloggers to boost their readership astronomically with very little work on the blogger’s part. In short, the opportunities are practically golden in today’s society.

As I began to embrace blogger tools that would entice readers to subscribe to my newsletters, interact via social media, and even contact me personally for direct feedback, I discovered a welcome change in the level of interaction observed in my daily posts. Suddenly, readers were offering suggestions and excitedly promoting my posts that I had automatically shared through the various tools available. While this meant an occasional spike in the number of spammers and possible hackers, I could not negate the results I was seeing. Moreover, I am confident that I am not the only blogger who has observed incredible results from using the tools at his/her disposal.

In short, Andrew Charlton would be pleased with the way in which technology has afforded a vast array of opportunities for bloggers to enter the global conversation no matter where they live or what their experience might be. While sometimes the volume of information available on the worldwide internet can be overwhelming, there are tools available because of technology that will even help with the dissemination and validation of data. Finally, rural America can interact with the big cities in a way they never could before. And if an American happens to work in another country for an extended period of time, he/she can still maintain his/her blog because of these cutting-edge technological advancements. I can recall the day that many predicted an untimely end to the blogging world as we knew it, and I believe those naysayers were right, at least in one sense. Instead of the virtual annihilation of blogging, further developments in technology have caused more blogs to enter the blogosphere, thus adding to the bounty of debate and conversation.