Why Do I Blog?
Uncategorized, Education, elearning, Blogging, Careers, Social Learning, Technology Add comments
Coming up soon at the Northern Voice 2007 conference Darren Barefoot will be leading a session on Why Do We Blog? In order to gather empirical evidence for his theories he has posted an online survey for his readers to contribute stats and personal commentaries as to why they have been bitten by the blog bug. The link for the survey is here.
A couple of years ago my classmate Terry showed me the blog he was working on. I had never heard of them before but I quickly picked up on the concept. Last year I heard about the Northern Voice 2006 conference, and noticing the inexpensive price I thought that it might be a good thing to go to and learn something new. I had already set up a Movable Type blogfolio at UBC to use as a career development tool. A number of teaching faculty as well as students were using eportfolios as a tracking tool for their careers and educational development.
From the UBC elearning website:
“e-Portfolios are online collections of your work that you choose to represent your skills and interests to diverse audiences. Highly customizable, e-Portfolios allow the user to assemble subsets of their work to present to instructors, potential employers, and others via login.”
At the conference I learned quite a bit and I could see the endless possibilities for a blog beyond a career development tool. I have been using it for career networking as well as social networking.
Many university and college courses are also now using the blog as a way for their students to extend their learning by sharing their ideas with other students and discussing them. One drawback is the blogs being discontinued after the course is finished and being removed from the university server so that others won’t have the chance to further the ideas developed within a class.
When I was a UBC student in the 80s it wasn’t uncommon for the instructors to have us develop a journal as part of our studies. It was done pen to paper style to be marked by the instructor at the end of the term. In one particular case I had done one for my classical studies course where we were to keep a diary about encounters we had in our day to day lives that referenced Greek and Roman mythology. Most of the people in my class (and myself I’m embarrassed to admit) left it to the last moment writing each entry in a different pen and writing style to make it look like we had been keeping it all semester. Blush.
This is what I like about the blog. It makes the whole process “gel” better. We’ve always known that writing down our thoughts and then sharing and discussing them contributed to the learning process. Keeping online diaries is spontaneous and benefits from stream-of-conciousness thinking. It’s can start a meme tree (cultural DNA) where an idea will develop at a faster rate and get passed from person to person more quickly. I wish we had blogs in the 80s…..
In recent years I have been taking writing courses and getting some of my work published in magazines and newsletters so I also saw the blog as another way of honing my craft and as a means of creative exposure.
In the future I will be interested to see how the blog develops and what will be beyond that. Right now, I’m really enjoying the social aspects of writing and I hope to continue.
OK. Your two cents worth. Why do YOU blog?
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:52 pm
I was first bitten by the blog-bug about 4 years ago. I wanted to use it as my soap-box to the world, hoping that millions of people from around the world would read what I have to say. Plus I have a keen interest in the Internet, web authoring, networking, etc…. But once I got my weblog up and running, it turned into a tool for meeting people and joining a cyber community where I meet people through linking to their weblogs–non contact interaction–so to speak. I think the best answer I got for why I blog is from a book by Rebeca Blood, The Weblog Handbook, 2002. Personally, I discovered that I have a lot to say, and it gives me the will to write it. If one person reads it, then that in its self is an worthwhile accomplishment.
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Thanks for the linkage!
January 24th, 2007 at 9:12 am
It is funny to hear bits of my story in your post. For me, my first blog was a gift, literally. We do the Secret Santa thing at work and one co-worker (a fellow leo) created a blog for me and got contributions from friends and students and other co-workers. I LOVED IT, and was hooked. I created my own blog for self expression a few weeks later when I had to go in for some cancer exploratory surgery. I used that blog to undate people on events and my thoughts and feelings on the events. Now it is time to create a new blog around my niche and coaching focus, to establish my expertise in certain areas. I want to think this one through more, so I am picking a title that creates branding in and of itself. And I feel a bit badly and guilty for my seemingly “abandoned” last effort. It is all a process and an exploration.
January 24th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Wow, I got a mention, thanks Patty! I started blogging one day because I was bored to tears at work and was trying to locate a brand of cookie that was hard to find (for my wife to surprise her). I found a reference to it on a “blog” and was instantly hooked on the concept. I had my own up and running the same day. Since then I’ve had a wildly successful run, being very popular, meeting tonnes of folks and making lots of friends. then the drought hit and I found my posts stale out on me. I never quite got it all back, but I’ll always blog. Mainly for me, but also for friends.
*and I found the cookies too
January 27th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Thommaso: I’ve also found the social aspects of blogs appealing. I see it as a tool to extend my interests and connect with others in this way. I’ve met a few people at local events who also blog and from there I’ve networked with others for fun and sometimes career development.
Signey: Having read your comment I recalled and realized that I had come in contact with blogs before I even knew what they were! A few years ago I was taking for a brief time a treatment for acne called acutane. I had heard a lot about the side effects and looked them up on the internet and found a series of “acutane diaries” by people who were going through the treatment like me (fortunately I didn’t have any significant side effects from it just some dry eyes). I now realize that they were blog based. Best wishes for new blog!
Terry: Ah yes, I remember you telling me the australian cookie story! You so dote on your wife! The addition of flickr to your blog seems to be working quite well in terms of adding interest to you posts. Best of luck!
Cheers,
Patricia