The COVID-19 pandemic has brought entire countries to a halt, but our need to connect with others and find resources and communities online has not gone away — if anything, it’s only become more essential.
Many bloggers and website owners have responded to current events by tweaking or refocusing what they publish. Parents and teachers are sharing resources for keeping kids engaged in learning. Food bloggers post quarantine-friendly recipes. Some business owners are exploring ecommerce options to keep revenue coming at a time where brick-and-mortar stores are struggling. And many use their blogs as an outlet for sharing updates with friends and family they might not see for a while.
What about you? We’d love to hear from our community about the ways you’re responding to this global event. Has your publishing focus changed? Have you found new ways to connect with your audience, or new sources of inspiration? Do you find blogging more challenging?
Leave a comment to let us know — and visit each other’s sites to find inspiration and connect with new people.
I am able to stay home online writing to my clients
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Medicine is a main topic of my blog, so this pandemic is right up my alley. But I am still at work every day, and when I am home I am the assistant principal and tech suppprt guy for our home school, so I don’t have any extra time for writing. I have managed to get a couple of posts out, though.
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Aspiring medical-line blogger here, great to meet you Alan! I’ve onpy just started off. http://rachelstruth.home.blog
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Interesting to read your experiences on the frontlines of the crisis. It hasn’t gotten that bad where I work.
What are your education plans? Are you hoping to go to medical school?
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Yes, I am! I’m hoping to enroll in my local MBBS program. What I wish for now more than ever is for experiences and exposure related to my area of interest (medicine). Where do you hail from?
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I am in Utah, USA. I am the only neurologist covering a large area with several rural low population counties. It is a great place to live and work, and I just love neurology.
Do you have any particular specialty in mind? I didn’t when I was at your stage.
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Ophthalmology and oncology are my initial thoughts, but I am sure I will be in a better position to make my mind when I have started my medical course. My first thoughts are that I would like a specialty that is rewarding in which I can easily feel/see the effects on my patients.
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Don’t choose neurology then 🙂
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What is your reason behind choosing neurology?
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The saying is that “we neurologists admire disease rather than treat it.” This old stereotype isn’t strictly true any more, as many of our conditions have become treatable within the last 30 years, but I still think there is truth in it. To enjoy neurology you have to be an enthusiast for functional neuroanatomy. You have to be a cicruit geek.
My long form answer to your question is here: https://medicineandfaith.com/2018/01/28/it-becomes-you-part-iv-identity-crisis/
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Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you so much! Please feel free to share this post to spread awareness on what’s really happening behind the scenes at hospitals… And as a reminder that our healthcare personnel are human, too.
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By rediscovering old hobbies and starting a new blog! Trying to explore the city by bike while I still can
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I’ve always wanted to be a blogger and staying at home during the quarantine made me actually start this journey!
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Same here..👍🏻.. http://lafemina.home.blog/
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Hi there,
We are all locked in and enhancing our days with different activities. An opportunity to introspect. ✨
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I started blogging again after 7 years! Somehow life got so busy, I feel this quarantine has given us opportunities to explore whatever we had kept aside because of a busy schedule and a routine. I am both a teacher and a psychologist and this has given me time to focus on my growth as a therapist (by blogging here) and as a teacher I am understanding new ways to use technology to make online classrooms interesting!
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With most of the world on lockdown, armchair travel is still a click away, either by perusing my archives or catching up on photos and stories of my latest adventures before COVID-19 took hold.
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Positivity is key. Avoiding misinformation is also important. WHO is providing all the facts we need to know. Staying in hope brings peace we need during this time
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I have responded with this post on my blog and I have shared it with my network.
http://themstee.wordpress.com/2020/03/28/working-from-home-what-does-it-mean/
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Hello Ben! I started Project 2020 at the beginning of the year. It is our first year in a new city in another country. It was supposed to be a weekly round up of images and experiences that provoke joy or thankfulness as we settle into life in London. With the rise of COVID-19 it has somehow become a daily journal of what life is like living with the pandemic. I still try and focus on the positives, but I don’t shy away from what is happening around me. When I started I thought I would have a record of all the good that happened this year. I never thought it would turn into a record of how my community and I am coping with this new reality.
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In my country we have a total Lock down and people are following all the rules and guidelines quite well.
I have been very inactive on my blog from one year, so during quarantine I’m thinking to catch up again. Hope it goes well.
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If you own a brick and mortar store and you’re temporarily closed, you could interact with customers to keep the flow going.
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My site is mainly used to promote arts & entertainment
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Hi ben here in Pakistan situation is getting worsening day by day, and am viewing the situation closely . Thus Stay tuned guys am new here please view my profile..
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Mine have been doing great despite the situation I got more regular site views now than before.
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I haven’t really focused on it I just started my site
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I started blogging recently and 🦠 gives me lots of topics to choose 👍🏻
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Definitely now, with the “work from home” thing, I feel I have more time and energy to spend for my blog. I get not only to do the research I need in order to publish my posts, but also finally I refactored the entire website and I get to publish on a regular basis. I hope that, after all this will end and we’ll go back to our daily routine, I will manage to keep my blog running with the same enthusiasm as now.
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My advice during this time is to quickly get the information you need, then close your screen. My poetic explanation can be read here: https://danielwpolk.org/2020/03/25/media-journalist-during-covid-19/
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I am blogging again. I had lost my flow before, but now I have time to blog every day and get back into the groove. Thanks for asking. 😊
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Hi Ben, trying to make sense of it all and certainly have plenty to write about. Particularly mindful of those that maybe anxious so keeping blogs fun and hopefully helpful.
https://balgillblog.wordpress.com/
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I truly appreciate the whole blogging process more than ever before. Its become so personal, interconnective. Almost a lifeline, connecting with friends made via blog. We shared life moments and stories, reviews and challenges, even awkward details. Now, we grow into a whole new dimension of life, sharing pain,anxiety in an ‘Event Covid’ that’s unparalleled to anything we’ve shared as a global community ever.
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I can’t begin to say how much I agree with what you’re saying. One of the bright sides of pandemics like these are how it has become a global conversation…. For better and for the worse as well, of course. Being a temporary staff working at the Covid 19 frontlines, I see everyone struggle but do their very best in trying to provide the best healthcare and ensuring all patients feel comfortable. Even though exhaustion some times threatens to get to them, but they are doing their best. Proud of our Malaysian healthcare workers! I’ve written about my personal experiences, and what goes on behind the scenes at the Covid 19 frontlines on my blog. http://rachelstruth.home.blog
Let’s share this post and spread awareness on what’s really happening in hospitals right now… with the reminder that all of us, even healthcare professionals, are human.
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We are all trying to make sense of it , I have started a blog to explore with the readers the meaning of it all : https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/47349988/posts/2637071579
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Please check my blog on this issue
https://mahimajalan.wordpress.com/2020/03/28/thank-you-corona/
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We wrote about emotions,and now,more than never ,we are closed to ours readers …we all are one…Stonger than never ,we can See a light…#stayhome..
With love,Mira& Irina 💗
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Hi Ben With our publication on hold ,we now have time to focus on our wordpress site and have just set up The Lockdown Diaries , an open ended venture for creatives to write and share how they are coping (or not) with the day to day stuff , as well as they books they are reading the music they are making (and listening too) and the art they are making . Doctors ,nurses and others giving thier best to heal and feed . Creative folk nourish us too. We are open to creative folk who want share how they are coping with life as it is for them in this difficult time . Brian deviationstreet101@gmail.com
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That’s such a great idea, I’d love to read your compilation of how everyone’s been coping with the lockdown. Being a temporary staff working at the Covid 19 frontlines, I see everyone struggle but do their very best in trying to provide the best healthcare and ensuring all patients feel comfortable. Even though exhaustion some times threatens to get to them, but they are doing their best. Proud of our Malaysian healthcare workers! I’ve written about my personal experiences, and what goes on behind the scenes at the Covid 19 frontlines on my blog. http://rachelstruth.home.blog
Feel free to add my post link to your compilations, it’ll be great if I can play this part in spreading awareness on what’s really happening in hospitals right now.
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Back here in Nairobi Kenya it is getting worse day by day with numbers increasing, a curfew where majority of the workers are from informal settlement and what they earn is what they feed on a daily basis plus police using extra force to make sure the curfew is respected. I wonder if we are fighting the corona virus or beating the virus of the citizen here. Its crazy here and you can read more in my blog
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Come and visit my site…i try to find the positive part of current situation of saying home….be creative and enjoy:0
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👍🏻
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Well, I’ve not really been that active blogging (idanfaith.com), but I sure did wrote a blog on COVID-19 lockdown
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I signed up for art classes: one is on Sketchbook Revival 2020 and then I connected with another one called getmessyart.com since we are suppose to say in our homes in Illinois. So I decided to do something fun and enjoyable and get back into to Art. I am excited!
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Hi Ben, the questions are good insights to meditate on. Yes, this lockdown has enabled me to spend more time working on my website genre and also figuring out WordPress in general.
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I have been writing blogs on my art progression for this academic year. Incorporating changes we have had to do. This has reflected on what I can do with my art at home. Thanks Ben.
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Hi there,
I have been wanting to start a blog for a while. I had so many ideas, my mind wanted to explode, but no time to focus on any of them. So this forced isolation allowed me to start my blog properly and to write a few articles. The irony is that my blog is travel related…! carrythebeautiful.com
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Came back to blogging and writing in general. With all this time, I have no excuse. I am able to work from home and work is slow now so once i check in and do whatever needs to be done for my clients, I teach my teenager to cook and blog about it. It has been freeing. I also am cleaning out cupboards, sorting through cloothing and we are all clearing out the garage and tidying up the garden. There is a lot to do at home if you really think about it. We are home, spending time together with no busy schedule, cooking, blogging and we are virus free. Nice having the time to read other people’s blog posts too and connect with my family and readers on line.
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I think the bright side of lockdown has brought our focus back to our homes and see what we’ve been missing. Also gives us some free time to write, blog and think. I’m working as a temporary (and probably the youngest) staff at a hospital at the Covid 19 frontlines… My contract is finishing soon and I hope to be able to spend time with family, and blogging about the things I have seen that have opened my eyes.
Aspiring medical-line blogger here!
http://rachelstruth.home.blog
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Thankyou Rachel for your reply on my comment earlier. Ah yes our focus has all been realigned. Wish it didn’t have to be in this drastic way….
Would like to respond from my post http://innerdialects.home.blog/2020/03/29/no-not-inside/
Stay precious, stay blest!
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My site is about pets, so it has been interesting to see how many people are really finding a sense of comfort in being with their dogs, cats or other pets.
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My blog is about books. I got the covid19 and then I got rid of it and anyway it seems that every book I read refers to the virus…
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For us here in South Africa is quite a different story people don’t want to follow the rules. They’re roaming around which is confusing cause they’re putting other people’s lives at risk…
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Being under quarantine gave me enough time to rethink my priorities about life in general. As to blogging, all those free time gave me new ideas about what to add into my blog and reassess its strength and weaknesses and more importantly gave me enough hours to read other blogs too. It’s refreshing!
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As one of the many who suffer from social anxiety, I happily stay at home. I keep connected online when I want to, keep in touch with friends from a distance (online).
It’s been a period of self reflection in our family and communities, so I wrote about that in my blog post
https://lifeinthefazlane.home.blog/2020/03/30/wake-up-world-to-say-thank-you-to-covid-19/
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As a all but minor silver lining, I have started an isolation diary to discuss the funnier sides of my lockdown experience each day and gotten back into regular blogging in the mean time. It’s nice to finally have the time to catch up. Check it out https://cuppateeblog.wordpress.com/
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I found that with Covid-19 and having to stay at home it gave me more time to think and instead of just having the one blog where I share my personal The Luna Projects blog but I started Dexter’s Daily Quotes. I started putting it together here so it would be easier for people to be able to browse through in one place instead of sifting through whatever social media I shared them to.
I figure it keeps me busy and my mind active and keeps me connected with everyone else.
https://lunaprojects.wordpress.com
https://dextersdailyquotes.wordpress.com/
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Yes, let’s pray for vaccines and a cure to come up soon. I’ve been blogging about my experiences working at the Covid 19 frontlines as a teenager:
http://rachelstruth.home.blog
Please feel free to share to spread awareness on what’s really happening behind the scenes at hospitals right now… And that our healthcare professionals are human, too.
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I’m just a blogger from time to time. As much as I love writing, I am first and foremost a tour guide and I am feeling somewhat “lost” during this “lock down” of out door activities.
Ironically, my blog had a surge in stats, I guess since more and more people are home, thinking about traveling… even from my own city – people checking what they’ve missed…
So I’ve decided to continue writing regularly, sharing my thoughts about current situation in travel industry or just share some stories and traditions about my city and country… to entertain my readers… but more so, to entertain myself…
My recent posts: End of Travel Industry?
https://rilaks-zagreb.guide/2020/03/30/end-of-travel-industry-or-just-changes/
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As the lockdown arrived in Italy ee started a blog about House, how to live the house, how to feel home
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As a nurse I’m very obviously not thankful for a pandemic itself. But I am wildly grateful for the time and space it’s given me. I used to work in the Pediatric ICU but just this year began my career as an elementary school nurse, so instead of being “the frontline” I am required to be home which has been extremely difficult. I am trying to find balance in my feelings, and by just allowing myself the time and space TO feel, it has also allowed me to write more and write better. My creativity flows in the midst of chaos and confusion 🙂 If I can help just one person through words then I consider each and every day is a success. https://seedsofwhitezinniahome.wpcomstaging.com
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stay strong…
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I’ve neglected my blog due to being quite busy COVID-19 has motivated/forced me to blog more due to boredom. I still haven’t found a niche yet so my content is a little all over the place but let’s hope I find a niche soon.
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We on day 4, still very new, scary and people are struggling, it has made my blogging a bit easier, but a bit sad it must be under these circumstances. Just wish there was a way to make money by this.
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