[Edit 11-18-09: My new TypePad Micro blog, Media Munchies, is here. Using it as a place to share tidbits I hope to blog about later]
Microblogging sites like Twitter were once described as "what happens in between blog posts." Today, TypePad rolled out a new microblog-friendly service called TypePad Micro, which is focused on sharing short bursts of content and maintaining connections.
You know, so now you can BLOG between blog posts.
OK, kidding aside, it's a super-easy way to begin posting content online without the discipline and editing of longer-form blogging.
The idea behind TypePad Micro is to make it easy for people to curate content from the web--be it text, photos, or videos--and share it in real-time with people on their blog, with easy cross-posting abilities for Facebook and Twitter. TypePad states:
We very much see this form of blogging as a complement to, not a competitor of, these services. Many bloggers have friends and followers on these great networks but often want to post more than 140 characters, or share photos and videos, with their own narrative and their own design.
True that. The TypePad Micro theme, called Chroma, is streamlined, soothing and a bit reminiscent of Posterous. Here's an example, the site DollarShort.org:
If you already have TypePad Pro, TypePad Micro is now included. It's an interesting idea--set up a Micro account just for quick sharing and easy cross posting to Twitter and Facebook. I don't know if this will kill my Twitter addiction, but the "easy cross posting" is definitely a beneficial feature for a busy social media person like myself who lives her life in the Short Attention Span Theater.
So here's an idea. If you have a "serious" blog and don't want to interrupt its flow with quick photos and updates, see what Stephanie Quilao of Noshtopia has done with her new Chroma blog. Or maybe you are a marketing visionary (dare I say "guru"?) and want to quickly curate great posts, charts, and graphs from other professionals on your site and for your followers on Twitter and Facebook, but keep your main blog with your original content separate.
I can see see TypePad Micro as another way to engage your readers (and their readers). For example, if you add reblog links to your post footers, readers can quickly share your posts on their own TypePad blog, driving new readership and visitors to your blog.
I'm setting up my Micro now... what would you use it for?
