Back to Blogging

This is the final blog post requirement for our Technology and Society course so I thought I would bring it back to where it all started.  Blogging.  Looking back at my initial post, I wanted to revisit some of my questions that are as yet unanswered.

Who blogs?  Now that I am more aware of blogging, I have come to realize that anyone and everyone seems to be blogging and they are blogging about everything.  “Bloggers are driven to document their lives, provide commentary and opinions, express deeply felt emotions, articulate ideas through writing, and form and maintain community forums.”  (Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht, & Swartz, 2004 p. 41)  

Why do people blog?  Some blog to record events and happenings in their lives, like the three travel bloggers I followed for the analysis task.  Blogging also allows these bloggers to make a living and follow their passion for traveling.  Others blog as an outlet as they face obstacles in their lives such as Bill Howdle’s Dying mans daily journal which details his journey as he faces major heart problems and a brain tumor.  Still others blog to advance their careers.  

Who follows blogs?  In conversations with friends, I found that many follow a variety of blogs and for a variety of different reasons.  Reading of blogs is voluntary with participation in a blog being either active or passive.  “The power of a blog, for example, rests in part with the author or authors who start it: in part with those who leave comments; in part with those who link to, cite, reference, or respond to it; and in part with the readers, who may do nothing more than have their presence recorded by the web server.” (Thomas & Brown, 2011 p. 54)  When this course began, I was definitely a passive online participant.  Since then, my comfort in participating in online collectives has increased and I have begun to share my thoughts with the world.  

I have enjoyed my blogging experiences, both following others and authoring my own blog.  I don’t see blogging going away anytime soon and actually see the popularity of blogs increasing.  My husband and I plan to blog during our upcoming trip to Kenya and Turkey.  While our blog from a trip two years ago didn’t have many followers or comments, I am hoping that this experience will be different as knowledge of and popularity of blogging has increased since this time.  “Narratives about travel experiences are most commonly shared with family and friends and are likely to influence the listener’s or reader’s future image of a destination.”  (Volo, 2010, p. 299)  Hopefully by sharing our experiences we can encourage others to step off the beaten path and explore somewhere unknown. 

Nardi, B. A., Schiano, D. J., Gumbrecht, M. Swartz, L.  (2004) Why we blog.  Communications of the ACM. 47(12), 41-46.     Retrieved from http://psych.stanford.edu/~mgumbrec/Why_We_Blog.pdf

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

Volo, S. (2010)  Bloggers’ reported tourist experiences: their utility as a tourism data source and their effect on prospective tourists. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 16(4), 297-311. doi: 10.1177/1356766710380884

Blogging in the Classroom?

Throughout this course I have come to know and appreciate blogging, but does blogging have a role in the classroom?  I know some schools are blogging daily as opposed to communicating with parents through student agendas.  As it is often a battle completing agendas no matter what students’ age- “do I have to write that, my mom already knows,” or “I’ll tell my parents what we did today, I don’t need to write it,” are there benefits to blogging aside from the trees, time and energy saved writing in agendas each day?    

I see blogging about the day- tasks students engaged in, what they found interesting, what they learned, what they are looking forward to-  providing parents a window into the classroom.  Including students in the writing, so their voice is heard would be important.     

Thomas and Brown write “the success of a blog depends on two things, neither of which is in the author’s control: reader comments and external links” (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 64).  I looked at the class blogs for two Calgary schools.  At one school, the blogs were basically a list of normal agenda items.  To me, this blog is written for parents.  There were no comments or external links included, so according to Thomas and Brown, this would not be considered a successful blog.

The second set of blogs appeared to be written for parents and students.  There was some student voice evident as the posts shared snippets of what had gone on throughout the day, as opposed to an agenda list.  Often a question was posed to engage either students or parents in the conversation.  There were comments for most posts, with some responding to the questions posed and others saying “I read the blog.”  There were some links included to games and resources for both students and parents.  Based on Thomas and Brown’s description, this would be considered a more successful blog than the other.  

I see a classroom blog, inclusive of student voice, as a useful tool to inform parents about what’s happening in the classroom and throughout the school.  I like the idea of including questions to engage students in learning through a collective outside the school walls.  Having students create their own blogs would allow personal expression and “serve as a means to kick-start a collective around conversations about ideas that spring from the personal (Thomas & Brown, 2011, p. 65).  I look forward to continuing on my new culture of learning journey and engaging students in the collective experience of blogging in the fall.

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

Too Transparent???

“One of the greatest concerns about digital media today is that it may be rendering our lives too transparent.” (Thomas & Seely Brown)  Prior to this course, I thought I was pretty up to date with technology.  I was competent with programs such as Comic Life and iMovie and was often the person others came to when they were having problems.  I realize now that I was viewing technology through a specific lens.  While I had a Facebook account (limited use), I wasn’t involved with any other social media sites.    

Since the course began, I have spread my social media wings.  I am following three blogs for my analysis task, as well as two others.  I am now on Twitter, and made my first tweet today.  But, as I have no followers (three random people were following me a week ago, but perhaps my lack of tweets turned them off so they dumped me), is it like the saying of the tree in the forest, if I tweet and no one is listening, does it matter?

I joined Pinterest, an online pinboard that “lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.”  I currently have three boards with nine pins total.  Within 24 hours of ‘pinning’ my first item, it was ‘repinned’ to the boards of 17 people I don’t even know.  A friend from high school, and one other person are now ‘following’ me and my boards. Who knew what I found interesting would be so interesting to others.

With Instagram, I can follow the photos of others, as well as share the photos I take with my iPhone and others can then follow me and my pictures.  

With all of the options out there to follow what others are doing and saying, what does it say about who we choose to follow and who we don’t, who chooses to follow us and who doesn’t?  As who you follow is often visible to everyone, could who you choose to follow help or even hurt your personal brand? (Think Snooki from Jersey Shore)  

I do think it is getting harder to remain incognito on the internet, especially with social media, as everything is connected.   Facebook now tells me if friends have played certain games and when I pin something on Pinterest, I am given the option to ‘tweet my pin’ and pins I make are now listed on my Facebook page. 

I have friends who use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to promote themselves and their businesses.  Perhaps being a teacher, and not needing to reach out and make these connections to grow my career or business as they do, is the reason why I’m not up to date on the potential of social media to contribute to my personal brand, but I am trying.

So, with my increased social media presence there are two things I now need; time to keep up with it all, and a way to remember all my different usernames and passwords!

“While it’s true that we don’t need a credit card or PayPal account to use Facebook or Twitter, there is still a cost to social media. We pay daily with our time.” (Stambaugh, 2012)

Pinterest- http://pinterest.com/about/

Stambaugh, J. (2012, March 1) Social media is free but comes with a price. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://michaelhyatt.com/social-media-is-free-but-comes-

with-a-price.html#respond

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

Personal Brand???

“Social media site just as much friend finder as brand-builder”.  (Sevilla) This statement in the Calgary Herald caught my eye.  Not long after, I attended a session at the University of Calgary (U of C) entitled Creating your Personal Brand.  The session enlightened me to another aspect of our everyday world that is changing with technology.

 “You are a brand.  You are in charge of your brand.  There is no single path to success.  And there is no right way to create the brand called You.  Except this:  Start today.  Or else.” (Peters)

What is a personal brand?  Why is it important?  Do I have a brand already?  Do I really need one?

According to the speaker your brand can be many things- who you are, what you represent, but more importantly how you want to portray yourself to obtain a job and build your career.  I learned how your brand can be built and communicated through your blog, social media presence and even the style of your resume.  During the session, social media was the focus with outlets highlighted such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, which I had not heard of until the session.  

Facebook was the only social media outlet that I was involved with and learning more about branding, I’m not sure anything on my page contributes to building mine.  Anyone who looks at my page will see a love of travel as that is what all of my photos relate to.  Except for a profile picture, I haven’t even added pictures from my recent wedding.   My use of Facebook is purely social, to keep in touch with friends and see what they are up to.  There is nothing about my career or that I am currently attending the U of C working on my masters.  Does there need to be?

At the session, the speaker spoke a lot about Twitter in particular, so I decided to sign up.  As I went through the set up, it asked me to start by following 5 tweeters.  I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to follow.  I wasn’t sure anyone I knew was even on Twitter as I have never heard any friends or co-workers say they are.  Being put on the spot, I couldn’t even think of people I didn’t know that I wanted to follow.  Eventually I added the obvious- local news and sports: Global Calgary and the Calgary Flames.  In the days following my Twitter initiation I added the three bloggers that I am following for this course.   Looking at the three travel blogs and their tweets, their brand is easy to see.    I wonder, is my blog contributing to my brand?

“It’s a new brand world.” (Peters)

Peters, T. (1997, August 31). The Brand Called You. Fast Company. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

Sevilla, G. C. (2012, January 31). The evolution of Facebook. Calgary Herald, p. B3.

Choosing a blog to follow!

“Blogs give an individual the chance to interact with and become part of the collective that both shapes and is shaped by his or her thoughts.  Blogs, by their very nature are tentative works in progress.  They have the character of playfulness, which is the core to the new culture of learning” (p. 64)

In my quest to find blogs for my blogging assignment, I found myself overwhelmed with the number of travel blogs out there (there are literally thousands).  As I sifted through the masses, I found myself drawn to certain blogs, and completely uninterested in others- first impressions are very important.  

So... what draws a reader to a blog?  What makes a good blog post?

In my blog search, I initially ‘clicked’ on blogs with names that interested me, such as Don’t Ever Look Back and Stop Having a Boring Life.  I then found myself reading blog posts that:

• had a title that caught my attention
• had a purpose and got to the point
• contained interesting pictures that helped me ‘see’ what the blogger was blogging about
• weren’t too long (my attention span for reading online can be short)

After reading/scanning several posts, I decided whether it was a blog I wanted to follow.  If not, it was on to the next blog.

Going through this process was much like reading a newspaper for me- a headline first catches my attention, and then the author has a paragraph or two to keep it.  If that doesn’t happen I am on to the next article.  Just like the newspaper, with blogs there are so many choices, and not enough time to read them all!

I have decided to follow the blogs of three female travelers.  Over the coming months, I look forward to living vicariously through these women until I can once again set off on my own travel journey! 

Spunky Girl Monologues (love the title and she’s from Alberta)

http://www.spunkygirlmonologues.com/

My Beautiful Adventures (many items on her bucket list are also on mine)

http://mybeautifuladventures.com/

Adventurous Kate (quit her job to spend six months traveling in Southeast Asia, one of my favourite travel destinations)

http://www.adventurouskate.com/

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

Let the Blogging Begin!

I must admit that panic set in when I first heard I needed to blog for two reasons.  I am not comfortable sharing my thoughts publicly, (I am on Facebook, but never post status updates and rarely comment on other’s posts) and more importantly, I’m not 100% sure what a blog is.  Coincidentally, I also have my first online class this semester, so I guess I will be jumping into the online world with both feet!

Times have changed and technology has played a big part in that.  I traveled to Australia 15 years ago where the only contact, besides postcards, I had with my family during my 5 months away were the phone calls I made every few weeks.  The internet and email allowed me to keep in contact through individual and mass emails on subsequent trips to Asia and Africa years later.  On a trip to Roatan in July 2010, I decided to create a blog rather than send the group email.  This was my first and only experience with blogging to date and I wonder, what is a blog?

“A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.  Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.” (Blogger 2012)

Thomas and Brown note two elements for a successful blog, the “reader comments and external links.” (64)  I checked my blog, and I only had one reader comment (though I did hear from some that they had trouble leaving a comment) and my blog has no external links.   

So... was I blogging or not?  I look forward to exploring and becoming part of the blogging community through my own blog, and following the blogs of others as there are still many questions in my mind including:  Why do people blog?  Who blogs?  Who follows blogs?   What role does, or could, blogging play in an elementary classroom?  

Blogger, (2012). Blogger Tour. Retrieved January 18, 2012: http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g

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

Video:  Seth Godin & Tom Peters on Blogging.  Retrieved January 18, 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livzJTIWlmY&feature=player_embedded#!