However, although social media is affecting basic online communication, blogging still has an integral role to play. In fact, Nigerian bloggers have over time found ways to use these social networks as channels to build their audiences and deliver content to their readers.
For people living in Nigeria who are resilient in their commitment to blogging as well as newbies who want to get on the boat, Jovago.com, Africa's no.1 online hotel booking portal offers a guide to the best platforms on the internet.
Launched in 2003, WordPress which started just as a blogging system has since evolved to become a full content management platform. Founded by Matt Mullenweg of Automattic and currently boasting one of the largest blogging community on the web - over 60 million users, this platform is the best place to blog. WordPress requires no expert or coding knowledge and its software is offered for free, however, you have to pay a little fee for the domain name and hosting.
Founded by Evan Williams (Twitter, Blogger) and Biz Stone (Twitter) in 2012, Medium has since developed into one of the most effective and efficient tools for blogging around the world. With features like topic searches and photo shares, it makes storytelling as well as improving content quality much easier and interesting. The platform is for free, although you would need a Facebook, Twitter or Microsoft account to start your medium page.
Even though Google+ was released on 28 June 2011, most Nigerian bloggers are new to the platform. Google+ is a unique blogging platform that brings to its user an instant community and audience, with an option of building additional followers by sharing posts publicly. The platform has certain features like the badge, Google circles, and the "hangout" feature, to get followers.
Other features include: multi-language, photography, authorship, search rankings, Gmail integration, chat, mobile chat, mobile publishing and more. With about 540 million users per month, it is definitely a platform any blogger would want to get on.
One of the first few platforms since WordPress and Blogger, tumblr offers a refreshing and unique take on blogging as it employs more of photography, music, and video, making the entire blogging experience much more fun than other platforms such as WordPress. The platform founded by David Karp in 2007 has just been recently acquired by Yahoo and currently has a community of over 152 million users. While the software is free, you are required to pay Tumblr to get your own domain name without the ".tumblr" inclusion. Otherwise, it is easy to use and you can share with your friends through re-blogging.
