A couple of weeks ago I played around with a Google’s Blogger Mobile feature. It’s an option available to anyone using Blogger and allows you to post a message using your cell phone.
I’ve known this tool was available, but never had any need or inclination to use it. My phone takes pretty mediocre pictures at best, and texting more than a few words constitutes outright torture in my book. I still blog mostly with a “desktop computer.” Call me old fashioned.
But recently I’ve been getting all these text messages from my buddy, Ben. They usually include a photo, and sometimes a line or two of cryptic text. I often told him he should share these with the World. But get this: Ben doesn’t have a computer.
It’s true.
But not to be dissuaded- or deprive the world of zany words and images from Ben- I explored the bold new world of mobile blogging! I called it simply: Photos from Ben.
Turns out Blogger offers two very simple ways to transmit from your phone to the Internet.
One is a simple email address that posts to your blog. You choose the name of this special address and share (or not) with whomever you’d care to give access. Anything sent to this “secret” address is either posted immediately or saved as a draft for future moderation/publishing. Quick and easy. If your phone can send Multimedia Messages then you can publish words and photos.
The second option requires you to “link” your phone to your blog. Blogger spits out a code, sort of a PIN number, that you have to spit back at them. If the codes match then Blogger links your mobile device to your blog. Once that’s done you can post using the more common SMS message format.
They’re both easy to get started with and seem to work quite well. While there are obvious drawbacks, the convenience of blogging without a computer is pretty darn cool.
To learn more or get started with mobile blogging visit www.blogger.com/mobile-start.g
