It’s bloggin’ time on the IIT campus

On Saturday, 430 people, including over 70 bloggers from all across the country  descended on IIT Powai for Barcamp Mumbai; a ‘free unconference’ where the participants drive the agenda and the content. At Barcamp there are no speakers and no audience, everyone is invited to talk on any topic. Speak Up reports from the event

Blogs are all about opinion building
I love watching films and then writing about them. My blog has lots of reviews of books and movies. I also like technology and write about the latest technological trends that catch my eye, and fascinate me.

I have been blogging since last year and earn around $27 per day by placing ads on my blog. Blogs are all about opinion building. My blog is very subjective.

As far as the reliability of blogs goes, no one should look for facts in blogs so the question of authenticity doesn’t arise. Some blogs are so well written that they have become the last word in certain fields. For example, Amit Agarwal’s blog on technology, or Gautam Ghosh’s blog on HR.
–Moksh Juneja

It gives writers a sense of satisfaction
There is always a need to write about something somewhere. People want to write and share what they learn every day. Blogging is the best way to share one’s thoughts with the world. It gives writers a sense of satisfaction.

The blog world has created an open environment, one that promotes a free exchange of ideas across the worldwide web.

Things that are not spoken about in popular media are showcased and discussed on blogs. But then, as readers we have to be aware of corporate bloggers who are not genuine.

They blog as a PR exercise.I love blogging, and have also started a website called vakow.com where people can exchange jokes, email forwards and funny text messages.

–Rahul Gupta

Microblogging is where the action is
There have been many new developments over the last few years in the blog world.
One of them is microblogging. We microblog, which means, we blog using our cellphones rather than our laptops or a desktop   computer.

We started our own microblogging website called tag.in where people can register and use their phones to blog. It is one way to always stay in touch with friends. Today, everyone is busy, and don’t have time to keep in touch.

This allows them to do so. Microblogging helps people to stay connected all the time. Using this technology, hundreds of friends can be messaged just by the click of a button.
–Vatsal Desai and Vishal Sampat

I love reviewing Hindi films
I have been blogging actively since September 2006. I enjoy writing Hindi film reviews. I like to share my personal opinion on movies that I watch. I have received an average of 15,000 to 20,000 comments for various posts till date.

I don’t restrict myself as I enjoy reviewing bad movies, too. This is because you can be creative while clobbering any film. Cash and Buddha Mar Gaya were the films I enjoyed reviewing in spite of the fact that they were bad.

I am based in Pune and my blog is called wogma.com. It stands for ‘without giving my movie away’. I draw Rs12,000 to 15,000 per month through blogging. But my primary focus is not money. The content is of utmost importance.
–Neeta Kabra

We wanted to make money online
Organic Apex aims to provide search engine optimisation (SEO) and engine marketing services. We basically intend to create marketing strategy to suit the flavour of a client’s website, and simply create and all-round experience.

We are a team of 10, and ours is an expertise driven company. We have clients from 13 countries worldwide. We decided to this venture when we realised that people were making money online.

And we wanted to be a part of it. We also have our own blogs as we are passionate about spreading awareness about many things. I started this business when I was 15 years old.

My specialties are social media marketing, digital and internet marketing.
–Mani Karthik & Ashwin Ramesh. CEO, Organic Apex

I love writing about food
I love travelling and I simply love food. So my blog culventure.com is all about food. Culventure stands for culinary adventure. I also review restaurants on my blog. I don’t write to gain popularity.

I don’t even track the traffic on my blog. I just like to write about food. You will not find many pictures on my blog. It is more descriptive. I receive varied comments from all over.

During the day, I work at TCS where I am a part of an innovation team. I am also the founder of kickstart.in and was involved as a planner at the Barcamps in Bangalore and Mumbai. I get requests to write about many places, one of them being for restaurants in Pune.
–Aditya Mishra

I write about the city
I am a market research analyst by profession but love to write which is why I started my blog — theideasmithy.com. It is an opinion-based blog where I write about the city. One of my recent posts talks about the similarities between the Scarlett Keeling and Adnan Patrawala.

Both of them were murdered at a very young age. Both were victims of misplaced trust. And in both cases, the question that everyone asked was whose fault it was. I have been blogging for the last three years and have met many like-minded people.

For me, writing online is a freedom of expression. If there was a ban on blogging, I would feel very violated. My popular blog posts have been the ones where I write about love, relationships, and friendship.
–Ramya

It isn’t easy to earn a steady income
I started blogging because I enjoyed writing about the various things that interested me. Currently, I write about technology and all it   entails.

My blog is popular because I simplify technology for the layman. Today, blogging is pretty important to me and has become an integral  part of my life. In many ways, it is like an addiction, but without the adverse side effects

Most bloggers even earn some money through their blog. But it isn’t very easy to earn a lot. You need to attain a pinnacle and only then can you earn a steady income from your blogging. I earn around Rs25,000 to Rs40,000 per month through my blog.
–Brajeshwar Oinam