Bringing more readers in.

I’ve been blogging here for 9 months or so and really enjoying it!  I find that I learn a lot more as I write and research various aspects of technology, accessibility and life.  However, I’d like to see a little more interaction from readers.  Discussion, comments, ideas, etc.  So lately, I have been continuing to explore social media, thinking that perhaps it could be a way to spread the word about Knowbility and the blog itself.  I have joined and am somewhat active on twitter and Facebook, MySpace being very difficult to use with respect to accessibility.  I am beginning to experiment with wikis, specifically one developed by AbilityNet that focusses on global assistive technology.  I have started to join various e-mail lists that focuss on technology to talk with more people when I can and just let them know we’re out here.  I am reading blogs that I find and working to comment there and tell them about our blog.

Marketing is a very long process it seems and some ventures may not produce anything.  Finding people who are interested in what you have to offer is not easy, although with the internet the resources are multiplying.  But word of mouth tends to still be the best way to go, so those of you who enjoy what happens here, spread the word.  Tell your friends, post about it on your blogs and I’ll do the same for you!

With respect to social medias and my experiences so far, some are more accessible than others, but there are still barriers.  MySpace is the most difficult to use that I have found so far.  While the main page seems to be accessible, once you get in to edit your profile and perform other actions while signed in, there are some untagged links and navigation is tedious.  Twitter is a little better, although the main site is still tedious, at least there are headings that make navigating a bit more manageable.  The mobile version of twitter is a bit more accessible, however it does not work with Internet Explorer, only with Firefox.  Also, twitter does not network through groups, you find individuals and network with them, mainly just telling them what you are doing at any given time.  Facebook is another very popular social networking site.  I have just recently gotten signed up, I needed assistance from their customer service department because I was not able to understand and effectively use the audio captia feature for registration.  It took some time, but thanks to Facebook, I have an account now and am searching for people and groups to add to my profile and exchange information with them about this blog and Knowbility.  So far, Facebook is proving to be more accessible than MySpace, but I need to do more with it in the next few days before making a firm judgement on that.

If you have a twitter or Facebook profile, let me know and I can add you to mine.  I plan to update there whenever I post to the blog, so people will know to come and read the newest postings.  And finally once again, please spread the word!!!