As I mentioned in my previous post, WordPress.com can be used as a simple content-management system.
You should also think of it as a social network.
But, wait — isn’t WordPress.com just for blogs?
Yes, WordPress.com does make it easy to fire up a blog in just a few minutes. But those who see blogs as a one-way medium for their thoughts/opinions/rants are missing their true potential and value. Blogs have always been about developing a community for your content; remember the blogrolls on the old HTML blogs? You hope to connect with people who are interested in your interests and can serve as a sounding board for your ideas and creations.
WordPress.com has added features over the years to make this community development easier. It has taken cues from Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr to expand its platform from a traditional blog with comments to a connected social network with added forms of interaction and sharing.
Following bloggers
WordPress.com has made it easier for people to follow your blog, much as you follow people on Twitter or Tumblr. It has added a top navigation bar to allow you to interact with WordPress.com content more easily.
Once users click on the follow button, you will appear in their regular news feed on the front of their WordPress.com page.
The Read Blogs tab makes it easier to scroll through your hand-selected content at WordPress.com. Think of it as your stream on Twitter or Tumblr: You get to see the latest content of those you follow in chronological order, with the most recent post at the top.
Like/Reblog functions
If you have a Facebook account, you are no doubt familiar with the Like button. It’s a way of acknowledging content without having to come up with some brilliant comment or observation. (Some people also use the Favorites function on Twitter this way, although that interpretation doesn’t apply to all users.) WordPress has added this interaction beyond its usual robust commenting system.
There’s also the Reblog function that allows you to republish content you like while giving credit and links to the original source. This function is what makes Tumblr such a powerful viral tool. A good photo or funny video can spread through Tumblr quickly because of its simple interface and stream.
Freshly Pressed
WordPress.com has been around for years and has an established blogger community. As you enter to update your own blog, you’ll happen upon the Freshly Pressed page, which is a selection of the best of WordPress.com content. Think of this as a virtual billboard; a link from here will provide you a generous spike in traffic.
Perhaps a hosted WordPress installation is best for you in the long run. But WordPress.com might provide a simpler, less time-consuming option for those wanting to minimize technological headaches.
Indeed, such social-media experts as Heather Mansfield of Nonprofit Tech 2.0 have built a strong following using the WordPress.com platform.