Even though you can build any type of website on WordPress.com, from an eCommerce store to a photography portfolio, blogs still make up the majority of our 60 million plus sites. To improve interaction and connection with these bloggers, we tried something new: Bloganuary, a writing challenge throughout the month of January, where we provided daily prompts to inspire people to publish blog posts.

Never having run a month long blogging challenge before, we didn't know what to expect. Would bloggers join in? Would the community appreciate this? 

But the results were incredible! Thousands of participants joined in from around the world, blogging in different languages. Perhaps what warmed our hearts the most, though, was we got to see first-hand how close our community of global bloggers really is. People liked and commented on shared posts, watched their audiences grow, and followed new sites they didn't previously know about. 

But don't just take our word for it. Here's what some of Bloganuary's participants had to say (some grammar edits were made for clarity purposes):

An excellent initiative. So much variety. I think, "what will I say?" and then come up with something unexpected. Have been on hiatus with my account through some of [the] lockdown. What a great way to get back into the swing of things. Thank you 😊

- Storyteller, artandidioms.com

#bloganuary was a chance for me to actually live in a community where we write, we read what others have to say and perhaps share our stories with each other. Every individual has a distinctive power through which he communicates with others, some by painting, others sing and we…WRITE. The spark of this whole challenge was how one topic can cause ripples in many ways and how many unique perspectives there are in a single topic.

- SaniaDiary, saniadiary.wordpress.com

This is a real challenge, something I have never done before. I normally write a blog every few months but starting in February, I think it will be weekly. I have thoroughly enjoyed #bloganuary so far and intend to go all the way. 🙂

- johnarthurbetts

With such a great response to Bloganuary, we're working to find new ways to engage with our WordPress.com community, so keep an eye out for some new and exciting challenges this year!

And if blogging publicly isn't your preferred way to write, consider the Day One app, which allows you to journal privately.