When it comes to blogging, is it "the more the merrier," or do you need to worry about "too many cooks in the kitchen?"

That depends on the purpose of your site, the composition of your community, and the resources you have available. Many blogging platforms (including Hoop.la) will allow you to decide who is able to contribute your blog.

Blogging options can include:

• Everyone in the community can blog
• Certain specific members can blog
• Featured bloggers
• Single blogger

This post will review some of the key considerations when you're deciding what type of blogging to choose for your site.

Everyone Can Blog

• This scenario works best for a smaller, tight community where members have a lot to say.
• Better for more tech-savvy communities, where members understand what blogging is, and how to use it. (You don't want to be constantly fielding questions about "what is this blog button?")
• Can be a great source of user-generated content; perhaps you have amazing writers in your community just waiting to be seen!
• Your members who blog will draw more attention to the community because they may want to promote their posts outside the community.
• Members may feel more "ownership" stake in the community if they are a blogger within it.

Specific Members Are Authorized Bloggers

• This scenario gives you more control over the flow of content.
• Having a specific group of authorized bloggers can be a way to reward or promote community members who make long-term commitments to the site.
• Frequently, intranet communities or corporate communities will use only authorized bloggers, as a way of controlling the message. It can be a good idea to invite partners and investors to participate as authorized bloggers as well.
• A group of authorized bloggers is a nice way to get a diversity of voices, and share the workload on a corporate blog.

Featured Bloggers

• Whether you have all members blogging, or just a specific group, you can feature, or highlight, certain blog content. (With Hoop.la, you can choose to either feature a specific blog post or all posts by a certain blogger.) 
• Featuring blog content can be a way to differentiate paid professional bloggers on your site vs unpaid contributors.
• Featuring can also be a nice reward for a member who posts something especially useful or well-written.

Single Blogger

• Sometimes you just want to have one voice in the blog, and use the forums for wider discussions.
• Single-blogger communities are great for author sites, entrepreneurs, or solo consultancies.
• Being the solo blogger on the site puts some pressure to produce great posts on a regular schedule, so be sure you're ready to commit to a consistent flow of posts before you decide to go this route.

Blogging can be a valuable component of a community site, and taking time to review some of the options above will make it even better.

Do you include blogging in your community? Who's on your blogging team?

Image via Flickr CC: EditorB