So, my readers already know that I was enrolled into the Dayre program of mobile blogging in the last week of May 2014. I announced thereafter my intention to shift to blogging with Dayre from the 1st of June. The initial duration of the program was to be three months. The owners of the program would, at the end of three months, evaluate your blogs, see how many people followed you, commented on your blogs, etc. and then decide whether to pay you a scholarship amount which would range from anywhere in between 300-30000 dollars to encourage you to continue blogging in the manner you were already doing in the first three months.
My overall experience with the whole thing was as follows:
1. I embraced the new method of blogging with a little less than full enthusiasm as I am not too used to a lot of typing on the mobile phone. Even so, it helped that this app allows you to add your contents in bits and pieces, and joins them into a single day-wise entry. You can upload pictures, short videos, add your location, or spice up your entries with stickers --- cartoon characters depicting different aspects of life, moods, etc.
2. I blogged almost every day during the first month, then every few days, and later, as the 3-month period came to a close, irregularly. The main reasons for my declining enthusiasm were - a) my friends, whom I exhorted so many times to download the app and to follow me and comment on my entries were too busy or indifferent and did not do so; some, who wanted to help, did not have compatible smart phones to download the app on their phones; and some, who did download my app, could not find the time to check my posts and comment on them each time. b) There were many in the Dayre community who were already being followed by and commented upon by hundreds of people, and I felt it would be useless to compete with them - partly, this is because the app and the main bloggers are from Singapore, an extremely mobile savvy country, where individuals are, forever, blogging on the go; and partly, because most popular bloggers are young, and blog mischievously, something that I cannot do, as not only am I not a young person, but also, my subject matter is not all that attractive to youth, who would be my target audience.
3. The limitations of this platform are too confiding: a) the blogger MUST use his mobile phone to blog; he cannot do so from the laptop and b) the follower or commenter can only do both if he has an account with Dayre, and to have such an account, they HAVE to download the app on their smartphones. Once they have registered, they MAY read and follow your blog on the laptop, however. These two limitations were like a double-blow for me as I did not enjoy typing on my mobile phone and many of my friends do NOT have a smart phone and hence could not download the app or create an account with Dayre.
4. The only benefits I got were - a) It was an unique experience, and it was fun, in a way, to use the mobile and to blog in bits and pieces during the course of a day without using "edit" tools b) I made a few new friends on the platform by following some interesting blogs and c) they shipped me a brand new custom-designed Dayre smart phone ... which I used from time to time, but it was not a very sturdy or useful device, and so, lies unused as of now.
I believe my friend Dr. Shabbir Baldiwala is also blogging on Dayre ... if you are reading this, do let me know about your experience with this platform.
My overall experience with the whole thing was as follows:
1. I embraced the new method of blogging with a little less than full enthusiasm as I am not too used to a lot of typing on the mobile phone. Even so, it helped that this app allows you to add your contents in bits and pieces, and joins them into a single day-wise entry. You can upload pictures, short videos, add your location, or spice up your entries with stickers --- cartoon characters depicting different aspects of life, moods, etc.
2. I blogged almost every day during the first month, then every few days, and later, as the 3-month period came to a close, irregularly. The main reasons for my declining enthusiasm were - a) my friends, whom I exhorted so many times to download the app and to follow me and comment on my entries were too busy or indifferent and did not do so; some, who wanted to help, did not have compatible smart phones to download the app on their phones; and some, who did download my app, could not find the time to check my posts and comment on them each time. b) There were many in the Dayre community who were already being followed by and commented upon by hundreds of people, and I felt it would be useless to compete with them - partly, this is because the app and the main bloggers are from Singapore, an extremely mobile savvy country, where individuals are, forever, blogging on the go; and partly, because most popular bloggers are young, and blog mischievously, something that I cannot do, as not only am I not a young person, but also, my subject matter is not all that attractive to youth, who would be my target audience.
3. The limitations of this platform are too confiding: a) the blogger MUST use his mobile phone to blog; he cannot do so from the laptop and b) the follower or commenter can only do both if he has an account with Dayre, and to have such an account, they HAVE to download the app on their smartphones. Once they have registered, they MAY read and follow your blog on the laptop, however. These two limitations were like a double-blow for me as I did not enjoy typing on my mobile phone and many of my friends do NOT have a smart phone and hence could not download the app or create an account with Dayre.
4. The only benefits I got were - a) It was an unique experience, and it was fun, in a way, to use the mobile and to blog in bits and pieces during the course of a day without using "edit" tools b) I made a few new friends on the platform by following some interesting blogs and c) they shipped me a brand new custom-designed Dayre smart phone ... which I used from time to time, but it was not a very sturdy or useful device, and so, lies unused as of now.
I believe my friend Dr. Shabbir Baldiwala is also blogging on Dayre ... if you are reading this, do let me know about your experience with this platform.
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