Blogging communities can be extremely difficult to understand. I'm actually not sure that many people within the various communities have a full grasp of what the community is all about or why they joined, other than of course, everyone else was doing it and it seemed like the thing to do. Not a bad reason when it comes to blogging. It seems that blogging trends are set and then followed without rhyme or reason so who are we to judge right?



Well, let's start with community. This is a group of people that share something in common. In neighborhoods, the community is about people who live within a certain distance from one another. There are communities that share in triumphs and tragedies as well as communities that are born by fighting for a common cause (the women who fight for a cure for Breast Cancer always come to mind for me). Communities have at least one common interest or goal.

Online blogging communities are really no different. Many of them have the shared interest of the Internet or blogging. The community is the place where they are able to 'congregate'. And yet they are very different because each blog and each blogger is an individual without a goal that is necessarily shared with others in the blogging community. However, there are certain things that make this act as a normal, traditional community.

With blogs there is a community of those who read and respond to the blogs of others. This actually fills a need believe it or not. By having someone read and respond to your blog you are not only being validated but you are also opening the doors to future conversations and correspondences. No one likes talking to themselves all the time so it is wonderful that within the various blogging communities there are actually those that go around reading and leaving comments about the blogs of others.

Another great benefit to joining and becoming involved in a blogging community is the fact that you can share links with other bloggers who have similar blogging interests and even those with quite diverse blogs. The point is that you are gaining exposure by having your link on their blogs and they gain exposure by you placing their blog links on your blog. It's a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back" kind of situation and is one of the main reasons that people become involved in blogging communities.

The world is made up of communities. Countries, cities, towns, and neighborhoods all have communities of their own that unite their citizens in one common effort or goal. It makes sense that the Internet is also full of communities. These communities may not have the same physical limits that offline communities have but the ties are just as strong and the benefits as great. Even better, when it comes to blogs you do not have to limit yourself to participating in one community. You can spread the word to as many communities as you have the patience and stamina to keep up with.