Blogging in the digital age

Shaili Chopra, founder of SheThePeople, said while participating in the first edition of the event in Hyderabad, "Women writers are breaking new ground as writers, scriptwriters, micro fiction bloggers, authors, graphic artists, storytellers.

The Women Writers Fest endeavours to connect, engage and elevate this community and create an emerging platform of ideas. We will do everything to celebrate women and their efforts in different genres and sectors."

The first edition, which was organised in association with city's FICCI FLO after three years of multi-city events across six cities in the country, saw an array of writer issues being discussed threadbare.

From script writing to poetry, from feminism to blogging, the many facets of changing writing modes formed the topics of the day that went under discussion to a packed house, at The Park, Hyderabad, this weekend.

Amongst the newer trends in writing in the digital age, blogging and micro-blogging took centre-stage. At a time when one of the highest users of mobiles are there in India and rising as we type, an abridged version of our thoughts is taking over the smart phone generation.

In a panel discussion on 'Digital Is Social, Business?' the changing trends of how content online is being created and consumed were discussed. Aspects of newer and crisper forms of expression such as podcasts, vid-casts, Yammer, InstaTV et al, were also touched upon.

There was a conversation around cultivating a unique voice across platforms and curating content according to the nature of the platform.

Challenges of such an engagement ranging from plagiarism to buying followers to bowing down to brands' expectations wholly were also touched upon. The reach and organic association that vloggers and bloggers have with genuine readers does translate into sales from books to clothes.

The professional space that writing online has come of age was agreed on upon by all panelists. The session ended on the importance of finding one's passion and being able to sustain it originally in the millennial age of communication!

Swati Rai, trainer and Blogger, Devika Das, author, Mounica Alamuri, Bhargi Madhu and Charu Dhyani participated in the session that ended on the note of upskilling and updating oneself on fresher forms of reader engagement.

The fest provided a forum for women writers from varied fields to come together and discuss issues that are important to the cultural and social fabric of the city of Hyderabad.

The diverse range of participants in each panel made for rich discussions on the feminine and the feminist voice in fiction, the culture of Hyderabad, food trends, blogging, nutrition and fitness, contemporary women's writing, poetry and more, and is sure to inspire change.