If you’re a blogger, think back and try to remember how you got introduced to blogging – did you start off with a MySpace blog or LJ journal? Maybe a tech-savvy friend set up WordPress for you and showed you how it worked? Or perhaps you just had to figure everything out all on your own? If you were in that last category, then you can really appreciate what Patrick DeVivo is trying to do with his latest project, The Youth Bloggers Network. This site is designed to be a center point of communication for young people who need support and encouragement as they try to enter the blogging world.
About The Youth Bloggers Network
Although it’s quite possible that there aren’t that many “real” people reading blogs, for those that do become interested in the medium as a way to communicate with others, that participation often encourages people to transition from being a blog reader to setting up a blog of their own.
However, for young people and teens getting involved in blogging, there are additional challenges that adults may not face. For example, Kevin Muldoon of Blogging Tips points out that young bloggers may have more issues with being able to afford domain and hosting costs than an adult would. But beyond that, they also simply need an introduction to the tips of the trade and the various blogging tools available.
This is how YBN can help. The site features a forum for communicating with others young bloggers, a resources section with blogging tutorials, and a YBN blog where anyone is able to guest post.
Are Young Bloggers Any Good?
If you think that young bloggers have nothing to add to the community, you need only take a look at Carl Ocab’s site, which he began at 13. He’s now 15, and the blog can certainly hold its own with any sites run by adults today. He writes about how to make money online, and by the look of it, he’s already doing so with his site.
Then there’s Jessica Mah (pictured), who was even interviewed by Valleywag last year. Now a junior in college, Jessica is an entrepreneur who began work at 13, when she ran a successful hosting business. She also was a co-founder of a startup called Shockapps.com
Another to take note of is the site FunnyMunny belonging to Paris Spence-Lang, a 13-year-old who wants to be a financial advisor when he grows up.
Two other young bloggers in the tech niche are Thilak Raj Rao of Tech-Buzz.net and David Wilkinson of TechZi whose personal sites are more impressive than many of the sites you may run across that are run by adults and just as informative.
The Next Blogging Superstars
Today’s top bloggers won’t be around forever, so a place like YBN that helps support and encourage the next generation of bloggers is an important resource. Despite their young ages, there are many bloggers who are already contributing to the blogging community – besides those featured above, the Retire at 21 blog posted a list of the top 30 bloggers under 21. Any one of those people could be tomorrow’s blogging superstar…or tomorrow’s superstar may still be undiscovered, only in need of some support and encouragement, like that which YBN offers, to grow their site and break out on the scene.
Photo of Jessica Mah courtesy of Anne Helmond
