Show Me The Blog 2012: Tweetable Takeaways

Last Saturday, I got the chance to speak on behalf of St. Louis Women in Media at the 2nd Annual Show Me the Blog Conference. The conference was created by local blogger Danyelle Little (aka The Cubicle Chick) for social media and blogging enthusiasts in the Midwest to network and to share resources and best practices.

Josh Kocurek and I moderated a candid ‘He Said / She Said’ discussion on gender in blogging and social media. Does it make a difference in the way we write? Does it affect what blogs we read or which people we follow?

We were lucky to be with an active audience who contributed opinions, anecdotes and even a few laughs... and Josh and I didn’t even have to break out the boxing gloves and battle it out!

Here are ten tweetable takeaways from the discussion:

• Some topics are traditionally gender-related- like sports & fashion- but that doesn’t mean the right expertise & content can’t get readers.
• Strong content, expertise and credibility is what matters the most. It trumps gender.
• But you have to prove it! Remember, we all start at 0 followers. Build your expertise and credibility with great content & networking.
• Mommy blogging is a strong, connected network. And supportive, too. They want more visibility for Daddy bloggers!
• Do you know many men who write journal-style blogs? In general, women are the sharers. Women had diaries. Now they have blogs.
• Can Nature vs Nuture play a role in how & what we share? How we express ourselves, show emotion. All that applies to online interactions.
• Girls say it with more words. Stats show men have been on Twitter longer, but women have posted more tweets and have more followers.
• People have been writing anonymously and with pen names forever. The internet has not (and probably will not) change that.
• Thanks to social media, we make our own demographics. We’re no longer just a gender, location, age, race. Our interests matter.
• Seem to be more women than men working in social media. Is it because of the ties to PR? And PR is generally more female?

There were plenty of other great presentations at the conference - ranging from using tools like Wordpress, Linkedin and Twitter, to establishing partnerships with brands, to getting a job in social media. What I loved was how accessible the conference was to any kind of blogger or social media enthusiast. It didn’t matter what you blogged about, if you blogged for business or as a hobby, or if you were just starting out or had been doing it for years - Show Me the Blog had speakers and resources to fit any interest or skill level.

Thanks again to the audience who participated in Josh and I’s discussion and to St. Louis Women in Media and Show Me the Blog for inviting me to speak! You can learn more about the conference on their website and connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.