What should I contribute?

There are a number of things you could contribute but you might be wondering if your thing is right for this blog. This page is here to put your doubts to rest and inspire you with ideas.

Contribute with a reply

Post a reply using the comments form

The comment form is there for, well, comments. Go for it. Share you thoughts on the subject.

If that’s not for you, we have some other ideas:

Reply via your blog

Chat is set up in such a way that you can reply anywhere.

Write your thoughts in a blog post, or on some webspace you own. Add a link telling people what you are replying to. Paste the link to your reply in the WebMention form (just under the comments form); then use the “ping us” button.

If your site supports WebMention it may auto-ping.

There may be a delay while your comment is moderated but your post counts as a reply all the same.

Reply anywhere you may post content

Your reply doesn’t need to be on a blog. Anywhere public is fine.

Some examples include Tumblr, Reddit, Blogger, LinkedIn, Wattpad, Medium, or anywhere else that seem suitable to you.

Reply on Mastodon

If you use Mastodon or any other ActivityPub social network, you follow the Chat there. Our username is chat@chat.authorbuzz.co.uk. All future posts will appear in your timeline and you can reply right there

Reply with a post

You might want to add a new slant to the conversation by writing a post on this site as a reply to another post. See below for more on that.

Contribute a post

Members of our Author Buzz group can contribute posts that pose interesting topics for discussion. author Buzz membership is free and open to pretty much anyone (except spammers and scammers).

The OpenMentions link is optional but a nice idea

Here at Chat, we like to post our questions to OpenMentions. This works the same way as replying via WebMention does for you. This way more people can discover the conversation.

Ending with an OpenMentions topic link allows discovery beyond Author Buzz UK. You don’t have to add one but if you can, please do.

Contributions without such a link might get one added by an editor. If you have ideas about which OpenMention topic is right for your contribution, beat the editor to it.

With questions, the replies are the content. Short and sweet is fine.

Introduce a topic

You can go further than a question and share an opinion. This can be your ideas on how to do something, a hot take, or just something thought-provoking.

Try to end in a way that there is plenty to talk about. Some open-ended questions at the end can be good for this.

Again, an OpenMentions link is a good idea.

Deconstruct the common wisdom

A fine way to start an interesting debate is to take a commonly held truth and deconstruct it for critique.

In many ways this is like introducing a topic but slightly more spicy.

Question an accepted norm

Sometimes good change can only come when the accepted norms are given a good healthy challenge. This can be the venue for doing just that.

Consider ending by asking readers for their thoughts on your questioning.

Politely disagree with someone

Some great debates can be had by respectfully disagreeing with someone. Perhaps someone who deconstructed an accepted norm?

The important thing here is to discuss (with respect) the idea and not the person.

Disagreement with ideas is valid but attacks on people will be rejected.

Something entirely new

Maybe you have an idea that defines its own heading that none of us have thought of yet. Give it a go. Show us what you have got.

I look forward to the conversations you will start.