“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)
My Beautiful Adventures (many items on her bucket list are also on mine)
Adventurous Kate (quit her job to spend six months traveling in Southeast Asia, one of my favourite travel destinations)
Thomas, D. & Brown, J.s. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Seattle, WA: Create Space.
Maybe 'what makes a blog a blog?' really comes down to individual choice and preference. I experienced the same type of reflections while choosing a set of blogs to follow, with some blogs standing out more so than others, based on criteria that I had consciously (and unconsciously) decided to be important. The interesting thing is that it seems as though our ideas about blogs change over time, depending on our experiences and what it is we need and/or are looking for in the blog itself at any given time. It seems from your post that reflection becomes important in the blogging world. As our notions of blogging expand and evolve, I wonder how it will impact our personal blogs? Perhaps blogging is a forum that promotes innovation, creativity and remixing as we learn from others' blogs. Adapting and modifying our own personal blogs reflects our increasing knowledge of what we see a blog to be. Good luck in your expanding blogging journey!
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