Understanding the Blogging Phenomenon - Blog 2

    
After investigating various blogs, I am contemplating several  questions and I have started to understand some key ideas related to this social networking phenomenon. Looking back at my first post, I realize how sparse it was! After doing my blogging research, I see how powerful and useful it is for readers to include relevant links. It is amazing how you can navigate the highway of websites and blogs as you cruise along. I also gather how we use our skills of skimming and scanning to decide what to spend our time reading. Much like reading a newspaper, I scanned titles and headings to quickly decide what was applicable. As well, I understand the need to be succinct! Too many words will scare away the audience. A blog needs to be visually appealing and easily navigable. Those I found too dense or hard to figure out lost their appeal quickly. On that note, I did find several sources with tips regarding better blogging. One of the key tips in this blog post is that it is the feedback from followers and ensuing conversations that are the driving force behind the power of blogs.

How can blogging be used in the classroom or in our personal lives to build community? The reading, writing, and sharing involved is powerful. Social media such as this helps us make connections with so many people from around the world with similar interests. Even talking about blogging in real time stimulates sharing and building community. I asked my yoga friends (who come from all walks of life) if they had any ideas about good yoga blogs I might follow. Several ideas were shared in an interesting conversation and I went on to learn even more when I investigated those blogs and many others linked to them.

Is a private rant okay to share on a public stage? It depends on your employment and concern for your reputation. One blog I searched had a very facetious and raw element of judgment included. It was funny, yet not appropriate for my analysis. The author clearly didn’t care about repercussions related to work or reputation. On the other hand, the president of Hockey Calgary resigned his position after it surfaced that he had called opponents of banning body checking “morons” in a personal blog post shared months earlier. People need to remember the implications of the public domain when interacting in "the collective" (Thomas & Brown, 2011).

Sir Ken Robinson talks about education killing creativity. The interaction created through blogging is a dynamic way students and teachers can continue to support their diversity and imagination. Do I have time to incorporate this type of creativity into my hectic life? I suppose it is a matter of making time. Participating in the collective will depend upon my interest in the topic, my need to find information, or my desire to actively engage and learn something new, (Thomas and Brown, 2011).

References:

Thomas, D., & Brown, J.S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Seattle, WA: Create Space.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Hockey+Calgary+president+resignation+over+critical+blog+post+loss+organization/7292511/story. (Accessed 09/25/12)

http://theedublogger.com/category/tips-for-better-blogging/ (Accessed 09/28/12)

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html (Accessed 09/28/12)