I Squidoo, Do You?

The word sounds a little crazy but Squidoo is actually a website where anyone can write and create a page (or lens as they call it at Squidoo) about anything… and I do mean anything. Squidoo is not the only website out there (Hubpages is another). What I like about Squidoo, though, is that advertising revenue is shared with various charities as well as those writing the content, and that writers can actually choose which charities they would like to see benefit from their lens. My goal is to publish content at Squidoo that varies from the content here or is a collection of some of the best info.

There are some great interactive elements available on a lens that are not currently available to me on the blog and I am enjoying exploring how these can be used. For example, I have recently compiled the information from my College Guide series in a lens. In my lens, A Dancer’s Guide to College, users are able to vote my tips up and down in a list as well as add their own, explore a series of other helpful links related to the topic, and get my personal recommendations for books that I found very useful throughout my college years and beyond.

Two of my new lenses are topics not explored on Dance Advantage. Why Blog About Dance? is a personal account of why I began blogging and also offers my suggestions for how the technology can be used for dance studios and students. This was my very first lens, but at Squidoo you can edit a lens as often as you’d like, updating the content as you see fit or as you have time. Like any good piece of choreography, my lenses will continue to be a work-in-progress!

In another new lens called The Sport of Dance, I’m utilizing another great feature which allows readers to have a say and take a side on an issue. I hope to facilitate open debate on concert dance in a competitive setting by allowing readers to speak their mind about the pros and cons of this relatively recent development in dance. Using this feedback, it is my goal to write about the findings here on Dance Advantage, so please visit my lens and weigh in.

As I continue to build lenses I will offer links to them here on My Pages. I hope you will support Dance Advantage by visiting and commenting at my lenses on Squidoo so that more dancers, teachers, and parents can access this resource and join the community I am working to develop through this site.

Do you Squidoo?

Originally posted August 15, 2008

Nichelle Strzepek is the writer/editor of Dance Advantage. Equipped with little more than passion for movement education, she embraced her inner computer nerd and began this blog in 2008. She holds a BA in dance and is an instructor with over 16 years experience. Nichelle continues to perform as a contemporary dance artist, covers dance in the Houston area as a freelance writer and critic, and balances daily life as a full-time mom.

Nichelle has written 309 articles for Dance Advantage.