Recently on Pinterest I decided to do some commenting on pins. The tactic is a great way to get on the radar of bloggers, after all. And since the image sharing site is a bit like its own blogging platform I knew it would be worthwhile.

So about twenty minutes into a session I wrote my first comment. Published that, and promptly found another interesting pin to add my thoughts to. But I was surprised to be stopped from submitting it. A note popped up saying that I was blocked from commenting because it thought I might be a spammer. This annoyed me because there was no way that first comment was spam. It was thoughtful, comprehensive and relevant.

Anyway, I did some Googling and learned that there are some fairly strict anti-spam measures in place. But they are still pretty buggy, and sometimes identify genuine commenters as spammers. 

It seems that if you do a lot of commenting or pinning all at once this raises a flag and it halts your commenting for a 24 hour period, after which everything is reset. 

In retrospect I can see why this happened to me. Before writing that first comment I had indulged in a real frenzy of pinning. That must have raised a flag that limited me to just the one comment. 

Since then I've been careful to not go overboard with both pinning and commenting. I've just used the site in a leisurely manner and the block hasn't reappeared. 

It's worth remembering this when you next log in. Pinterest is not as fast and furious as, say, Twitter. So, work as a slower pace and you will be fine. 

Clearly, the internet has had a huge impact on the way information is disseminated -- not to mention absorbed by readers, listeners and viewers. It's been a hugely liberating medium for anyone who has something to say about a subject they know and love.

In the past you, if you wanted to convey your thoughts and opinions to even a small number of people you had only a few options:

You could take the time to write a book and submit it for publication. Or you paid to have it published yourself.

You could also become a regular columnist with a newspaper or magazine. That was a difficult thing to achieve. Media organizations didn't give such roles to anyone. To be in the running you either had to be on their payroll as a journalist already, or earn sufficient credibility over a long period of time working as a freelancer. Occasionally, people who were highly successful already in their profession or business niche could score a regular column in some publication or other.

All these avenues required years of work, and ultimately a bit of luck. They were all so involved and time consuming that they were simply beyond the reach of most people.

While all of these paths are still available, and many who work in the media pursue them, there's another one that's open to pretty much everybody: blogging.

You can immediately start publishing thoughts about your field of interest. If you keep at it, and make sure you share your posts on social media, you can slowly but surely garner a decent following.

Sure, it's likely that your readership will never rival that of a typical columnist for a daily newspaper
Still, you can certainly end up with respectable numbers of regular readers -- and even make some money as a result. This is enormously satisfying.

Actually, it can be so rewarding that I suspect many who dreamed of having their own syndicated column have settled for the niche market domination that a blog affords.

And what bloggers lack in readership they can make up for in engagement. As well as being an online column, a blog is a kind of community. It's very much a two way process.

Of course today's high profile columnists are expected to engage with their audience online. But the vast majority of their readers don't actually converse with them in comments. They just read their weekly offerings in the printed edition.

In the blogosphere, however, everyone who reads your work can comment, and many do. This gives you a more accurate picture of how your views are perceived, I believe.

There's another advantage to blogging: You can say pretty much whatever you want, however you want (as long as you are not defaming someone, of course). This is not the case if you are working for a big media company. And as well as legal issues there are political considerations to take into account -- not to mention the sensitivities of major sponsors. This could really wear at your soul, particularly if you are a bit of a free spirit.

Last but not least, with a blog you can just take a break whenever you feel like it. That's certainly not the case if you're contracted to crank out a certain number of words every week. Having to do so could end up being a burden after a while, even if you're being well compensated for your work.

There's no doubt that including links to blog posts and articles in your tweets is a good idea. Among other things it's well established that tweets that contain links get more retweets than those without, on average. Still, I believe that including some tweets without links is a good tactic. 

You're own expertise comes to the fore

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, if all you do is send people to blog posts and articles written by other people, your followers won't really know what you're about. While they will appreciate the fact that you can point them in the direction of good content, they'll have greater respect for you if you can occasionally communicate useful concepts succinctly within the site itself. 

Links can be boring, and risky

Also, I think many people get sick of clicking on links after a while. I know I do.

Then there's the risk that links to other sites constitute. Sure, if your followers already know and trust you they won't worry that the link you've included goes to a risky site or just some lead capture page. (That's why you should always check all links you are tweeting and retweeting first, so you know that they're not dodgy or spammy.)

But if someone hasn't seen you before they don't know how reliable you are in this regard and may not follow you as a result. So, if you tweet some self contained tips and insights it will show them that you are a genuine and knowledgeable person. They'll come to respect and trust you a bit more quickly. Then, having gotten to know you a little, they're more likely to follow you as well as click on the links you do include. 

They can be collated for further use

The other advantage of tweeting link free tweets: You can collate them into lists on the same subject as you go. So then you'll have raw material for blog posts and articles down the track. 

They are still very shareable

And while tweets with links tend to get more retweets, a well crafted offering that's entirely self-contained can get shared many times over. That's one reason so many tweeps send a constant stream of "wisdom quotes" by well known authors to their followers. People enjoy reading them and retweet them a lot. The person who tweeted builds their network more easily as a result.

Knowing how powerful these tweets can be, it's definitely worth creating your own general or niche-specific wisdom tweets, then. They'll stand out in the streams of your followers and be shared around quite a bit. They'll show your followers how thoughtful and insightful you can be, too, and help build you a strong reputation as an expert. 

I have been spending quite a bit of time on Pinterest lately. It's such an enjoyable site and pinning appealing images is really quite addictive. Needless to say, the site is jam-packed with infographics. 

Pictures can be packed with facts

At first I was reticent about this medium. But now I'm enthusiastic about it. The infographic is such a good way to convey information.

I's easier and quicker to look at a pretty visualization than it is to read a detailed 2000 word article, after all. Not only can you absorb them quickly, finding then sharing them on other sites can be swiftly accomplished too. Other users tend to like this "eye candy" so they often get retweeted, etc. 

Tweeps and Facebook friends love images

The other advantage: When you share an infographic that you've pinned, you're promoting your Pinterest account as well. A certain proportion of those tweeps and Facebookers will themselves be pinners, some of whom will follow one or more of your boards. You're keeping them "on your turf" -- as opposed to just sending them to someone else's blog or website. In this way infographics are not just great for learning, they also help you promote your other social media accounts.