by Barry Marcus

Created on: December 13, 2008   Last Updated: May 31, 2009

Blogging is one of the world's stranger phenomena. Anyone can start a blog, write whatever they want and publish it for the world to see. Helium is similar in some ways. You may write on a range of topics and publish the finished products. Blogging as a medium is very personal and rather self-centred. Writing for Helium is more focused on the world and on knowledge. Although Helium allows you to write on your own topics, whatever you write is rated against other articles on the same topic.

Blogging is a rather isolated sport. From the time that you start your blog you are very much on your own. In the first place you must choose a platform. Google's Blogger, Wordpress or another of the platforms that abound. It is up to the blogger to create the look and feel, add images and source adverts and other potential revenue sources. Blogging is a lonely occupation. True, readers may post comments on your site but often these are from equally anonymous people or simply other bloggers trying to promote their own blogs.

A blog (or web log) is a kind of diary. To maintain readership it is necessary to post frequent new posts. Many blogs consist of people recording their lives and life events. Others use the medium as a showcase for their writing, photography or art. Most bloggers blog anonymously. They may write about employers, companies, politics or economics, but the general thrust is towards opinion. Blog postings are generally short. The medium is not really conducive to long detailed articles.

Helium, on the other hand, is more of a community. Some contributors do assume pen names, but most write as themselves. A range of topics are requested by the site and the writer is free to choose from any of these. The forum is somewhat more formal. Articles may contain opinion, but are often geared towards greater objectivity. The emphasis is on writing, quality writing. As soon as there is more than one article on a topic the rating system kicks in. Other writers must rate articles of the same topic against each other. Better articles tend to rise to the top while weaker articles fall.

Helium has some additional features that are not common to blogging. The first are the regular incentive schemes and rewardathons run by Helium. These increase the earnings from the site. Then there are the contests. These allow writers to compete by writing on a number of topics. Earnings can be increased substantially through partaking in these, but they require quite a concerted effort and plenty of time!

The Helium Marketplace is the Helium window to the world. Publishers request articles on specific topics and the writer must conform to the information and style requirements. Marketplace allows Helium writers to compete in the freelance writing market.

Both mediums can be used as a stepping stone towards more professional writing. Blogging is a form of self-expression. It is more personal, more casual than Helium. Helium is more concerned with knowledge and information. Good writing is recognised and rewarded. The mediums are very different. A writer may write on a whole range of topics for Helium. A blog needs to be focused on a particular interest area to gain a steady following. On Helium there is plenty of scope for a writer to write on an extremely diverse set of topics.

The importance of the Helium rating system cannot be over-emphasised. This helps to promote quality writing. Effort is required to reach the number one spot. A blog attracts little in the way of criticalappraisal and although the quality of writing may improve over time, a blog does not promote quality in the same way.

To summarise, the main difference is in in the emphasis - good writing or personal self-expression.

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