Jenn Van Grove – Blogger Week
Jennifer Van Grove, Social Media Strategist – http://www.jennifervangrove.com/
Sociosophy: What was the reason you started to blog?
Jenn: “The interesting thing is that when I first started blogging, I really didn’t know what a blog was supposed to entail and I wasn’t aware of LiveJournal, Wordpress, or Blogger – just MySpace. But in mid 2005, I was in search of a creative outlet, and very actively using MySpace, so I checked out their blog module and saw it as an opportunity to express myself to a small audience of friends. In the early days, I focused on writing about my constant struggles with men and life, and tried to interject humor into the equation for comic relief. This type of writing was a natural extension of my education and creative and moody disposition. Feeling liberated by the privacy that MySpace afforded, I wrote with a honest transparency that made me fall in love with blogging and appreciate it as an art form.”
“Four years later I’m still blogging, albeit outside of MySpace, and on everything related to social media and web/tech news. I’ve never relinquished my appreciation of blogging as a vehicle for self-expression (I have a few personal blogs), though I’m a little more conscious that more people are starting to become aware of the overly personal stuff I’ve been known to share.”“Unfortunately, time has become a major restriction and my own primary blogs have become secondary to Mashable. That’s where Jenn Live, my tumblr lifestream, comes into a play. It quenches my thirst for blogging in a form that is truly satisfying, as I’ve chosen to merge the personal and the professional into one conveniently updated space.”
Sociosophy: “What keeps you going?”
Jenn: “What fuels me to keep going? Love of the art form. Blogging, in its micro and macro forms, has become a core need right alongside eating and sleeping. Sadly, I think it dominates my life and affects my personal relationships and love life, though right now I’m trying to find a harmonious balance.”
All in a day’s work, for Jenn – I think. She’s a dedicated SD Tech Scene community member with a knack for getting great tech start-up stories and throwing a great party. One of the things I’ve noticed she rocks at, and I think she should expand on a little, is her ability to treat blogging as though it was 1940’s press, with scoops and exclusives as a result of good investigative work and digging.
Here’s a useful tip from her About page:
You can find me on most social media sites as jbruin, my username of choice. I’m a super user and early adopter, which is why I understand community building better than most. And in case you were wondering… “jbruin” is an amalgamation of Jenn (”j”) and my alma mater, UCLA (”bruin”). Go Bruins!
I’ve known Jenn for about year, and in that time she’s created one of the largest Twitter organized events I’ve ever seen, the SD Tweetup; she’s dipped into all corners of Social Media, helping and evangelizing various social media sites; and has become an assistant editor with our friends over at Mashable.com. Those results don’t come from anything else other than know-how and determination, which marks her as a certified “Blogger Ninja”.
Here’s how our virtual interview went with “The Bruin”:
Sociosophy, “How many hours a week do you spend thinking about blog posts and writing?”
Jenn, “That’s a tricky question, but I would say that since I started writing for Mashable a majority of my waking hours are spent scouring for stories, reading feeds, or researching posts. Sometimes I give myself a break on Sunday, but I usually feel like the world I know is moving on without me – I hate that feeling.”
Sociosophy, “If you could change one thing about your blog, what would it be?”
Jenn, “JenniferVanGrove.com needs to be updated more frequently, period.”
Socisophy, “What’s your favorite Social Media outlet other than your blog?”
Jenn, “Twitter. I’m a huge fan of the connections and relationships I’ve built just by saying what I’m thinking, feeling, or doing in a 140 characters less. I choose to be me on Twitter, and that’s what makes it so much fun.”
Sociosophy, “Do you think Twitter and FriendFeed contribute or take away from your blogging?”
Jenn, “Both. To really get something out of either service you have to invest time into it. Want FriendFeeders and Twitterers to pay attention to you? You need to pay attention to them first, and that takes time away from other activities like blogging. I do think that both sites, however, can obviously be great exposure for blogs of all sizes, so the time you give to each respective network could result in a wider readership.”
“Realistically, in this day and age, your Twitter feed is just as important (if not more so) than your blog. It might be a challenge to be involved everywhere, but I’m of the mindset that Twitter fuels me to keep writing in longer form, so it hasn’t really taken away my need to blog.”
Catch up with Jennifer Van Grove at http://jennifervangrove.com and check out http://jennlive.jennifervangrove.com. You can also catch her Twitter feed @jbruin.
