How to Use Facebook as a Blogging Platform

Everyone has a blog these days, so it seems. Unfortunately, blogs are segmented across several platforms and it’s difficult to read several of your favorite blogs without using an RSS reader or scrolling through a long list of bookmarks. It’s equally as difficult to discover new bloggers or topics without clicking from blog to blog, or using Google search. Now, Facebook seems to be paving ground to make it an ideal blogging network with the addition of several new features.

Previously, blogging on Facebook was futile due to both character limits of posts and the inherent private nature of Facebook. Facebook has now increased the limit for each “status update” from 500 to 5,000 characters, which is about 1000 words. This is more than enough room to write a blog post, even for those who tend to ramble. (For context, this blog post is just under 400 words.) Google+ does not set a character or word limit for updates, and some have begun using Google+ as a blogging platform for this very reason. A 5,000 character count should be sufficient, however, for writing most blog-type posts.

In addition to the new character limit for status updates, the new asymmetrical subscribe feature makes it easy for other Facebook users to find you and read your blog on Facebook without requiring a reciprocal friendship. These blog posts will appear in the news feed of your subscribers, and users can also add you to a list to more quickly access only your blog posts without the noise of the News Feed. For example, users can create a list of only Facebook users who post blog-type updates, and use this list in the same way someone might use RSS — but all within Facebook.

If you want to use Facebook as a blogging platform, be sure that your blog-type updates are public, or else your subscribers will not be able to see the post. You may also want to adjust other privacy features so that all other content on your Facebook wall is more private. This way, only your blog updates on Facebook are publicly visible to anyone who is not your friend on Facebook. You may also want to edit your personal information so it is publicly accessible as well as more informative for your readers and subscribers.

Would you use Facebook as a blogging platform? Let us know in the comments.