Yesterday I went to the Bloggers' Kapihan forum in Pisay. Alone, because everyone else from '07 was busy with things such as Ateneo responsibilities *cough* and whatnot. I almost didn’t go, because like Nico I am autophobic and could not bear being alone amidst current Pisay students who probably don’t even know I used to go there too. But the opportunity to hear some of the Philippines’ more well-known bloggers speak was too great to pass, so I mustered all the kapal ng mukha I had and attended the forum.
So. What exactly is this Blogger’s Kapihan forum thingy, you ask?
Blogger’s Kapihan was organized by a bunch of Pinoy bloggers, including Pisay’s very own Sir Martin Perez. Yesterday’s event, entitled “Blogging Beyond the Basics,” was the first in what is going to be a series of fora to be held in different venues. (If I heard correctly, the next one might be held in the Philippine Normal University.) According to their site, Blogger’s Kapihan aims to “bring together Filipino bloggers–especially the young ones– to discuss issues and matters that affect the blogosphere and the youth in general.” So basically, it’s a place to meet other Pinoy bloggers (although in yesterday’s case it was mostly Pisay bloggers) and talk about blogging and whatever is going on in the blogosphere.
Since the event was held in Pisay, I was lost in a sea of 13- to 15- year-olds. Me and my red nails felt so old when only a handful of people aside from me raised their hands when the 16-18 age bracket was called. Has no one in the 4th year turned 16 yet? Darn, Pisay scholars really are getting younger and younger each year.
However, despite being the lone ’07 blogger there with only Lara Cion for company (thanks dear 
), I actually enjoyed it a lot and learned so much. I’ve been blogging for more than three years now, and yet I still have a long way to go before I become a well-read blogger like the speakers. I still blog like a high school girl for the most part, albeit with better spelling, punctuation and capitalization than when I first started out. But yesterday inspired and encouraged me to blog better. In fact, my head was buzzing with all sorts of things to blog about, and my Blogger’s Kapihan entry was actually composing itself in my head even then in the ASTB-AVR. Yes, I am weird like that. Hundreds and hundreds of words had already formed before I even reached home, and now some of them are lost in space because I didn’t think to bring a pen and paper. 
Anyways. Back to the event.
The first talk was on student blogging, by Mr. Victor Villanueva, a 19-year-old Film student at UP Diliman (yay schoolmate! LOL). He gave tips on how to make your blog more interesting, like putting pictures and writing about the different activities you are involved in, such as orgs. And I have come to the conclusion that my life is boring, because my own blog bores me to tears. Well, studying in Pisay, I didn’t really have the time to do much besides cram, so all I wrote about was how stressful STR was or how I didn’t sleep because of EngJourn. But I’m now in college, yet all I can blog about is my new orange nail polish. I really should get out more. Or rather, I really should write all the things I thought to write about but never got around to doing so, because the list has gotten pretty long by now (my block, my org, the new episode of The Cooking Show which I should’ve posted a week ago, me quitting ACM, and lots of other stuff). Lesson learned: write as if your life is the most interesting thing on the planet so that even people who don’t know you will want to read your blog. Oh, and post lots and lots of pictures.
The next talk was one that probably interested many of the students present (including myself, harhar): professional and technology blogging by Mr. Abe Olandres. Who knew you could earn $100,000 a year just by blogging, right? But blogging is no get-rich-quick scheme; it could actually take years before you start getting paid a decent amount per month, and sometimes even after years of perseverance you might not earn much at all. If you really want to earn through your blog, you have to find you niche, and be serious about it. Of course your niche has to be something popular too, because if the market for your topic of choice isn’t all that huge in the first place, you won’t get the millions of hits that you want.
However, while blogging professionally is something I would like to do sometime in the future, I’m not really in a rush to get paid. Maybe when Clar and I are successful programmers already, we can quit our jobs and start a programming blog and, like I told her, we could be full time bloggers/writers and part-time programmers (my dream, actually. Or at least the writing part). Yes, dream on, sister. I think I’d like to improve myself as a personal/student blogger before diving into more serious blogging.
Speaking of serious blogging, Mr. Manuel L. Quezon III talked about political blogging (and how everything’s related to sex, really, LOL). Ok, so I cannot be a serious, political blogger because haller, I know nothing about politics (at least I won’t get sued or anything, harhar). I do know of a certain Rob Roque who gets excited about politics, so maybe he will be the next great political blogger. But then maybe in a few decades, he will be the politician we will all be blogging about. In a positive light, of course. Maybe then I will become a political blogger and I will tell everyone about how President Roque was like in high school. What.
After the coffee break (coffee+donuts=LOOOOOOVE!), the open forum started. There were questions about how exactly one starts earning as a blogger and other stuff. Mr. Alba’s question about libel cases how far can you go without being sued was a good one. His blog, when it materializes, will surely turn out to be an interesting read. However, it is not his question that really struck me, but one from a sophomore girl: How do you convince your parents that it is ok to blog?
Ok, leave it to me to pick the lighter questions, LOL. But being a teen girl blogger myself, I certainly understand her concerns, because our parents were born into an era of telegraphs and snail mail and certainly find it hard to comprehend how their children could share so much of themselves online, to people they’ve never met. But I didn’t have that problem, mainly because I didn’t tell my parents that I blog. Ok, so my dad knows because I’ve mentioned my blog casually a few times, and my mom has seen me check out my blog when I go with her to her office, but I never went, “Hey mom, dad, today I am going to set up an online journal that anyone with internet access and half a brain could find,” so it was never an issue at home. But, you know, you don’t have to tell your parents everything. It’s not like you’re taking drugs behind their back, so it’s not a crime to conveniently forget to tell them that you blog, LOL.
Anyways. So. After the forum I was sorely tempted to move to Wordpress immediately as Sir Martin suggested. I’ve been thinking about moving for quite a while, actually, but I won’t… yet. I’m still about 100 entries away. When I move, I want to be ready – for slightly more serious blogging, for the wider audience at Wordpress, and for the responsibility that comes with that. I’ve set a tentative date for the move, but we’ll see if I’ll be ready then.
But, moving or not (yet), I'd like to thank Sir Martin for inviting me (or asking Clar to invite me) to the forum, and also the whole BK crew for organizing such an event. And of course, thank you to the sponsors too.
PS. Eeeep, sorry, I got carried away and spent the whole afternoon writing over 1300 words.
