One of the most pervasive interactive, dynamic media forms is the blog. Last week in class, everyone set up blogs here on wordpress, and we explored some other essential “Web 2.0″ tools including del.icio.us and technorati.
While blogging may seem like just a simple journaling exercise, it can be very, very different. Notice I say “can.” Not everyone starts blogging with the idea of developing a conversation with other bloggers and with visitors to the blog–but in the course of this semester we will explore blogs with this ultimate goal in mind. This creates both exciting opportunities and a need for caution. You have an audience, and the whole idea of blogging is that you would cultivate and interact with your audience. In fact, audience may not be the appropriate word for the readership of a blog. A popular blog facilitates an involved community of readers.
One of the most effective ways to get a better sense of what is involved in blogging is to read what others have written about it. In On Becoming A Good Blogger, Shai Collins offers helpful insight in this regard. Twenty Tips for Good Blogging also gives important perspective to effective blogging habits.
Posting openly online does leave potential for misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or sometimes just plain malicious behavior. It can be disconcerting at first when someone comments on your words or critiques your words. This will get easier over time. Keep in mind too that with trackbacks in blogs, if you post a critique of someone else’s writing on your own blog, the original author will often easily find it. For this reason, when you are referring to the writings of others, it is best to keep a constructive tone to the writing.
It doesn’t happen often, but there are times when blogging can result in vicious personal attacks. One such example was a widely denounced personal attack on Kathy Sierra. At the time of those attacks, a movement developed for a blogger code of conduct.
You may already be aware that computer-mediated communication can be more unclear because of the lack of verbal cues inherent in face-to-face communication paired with the ease of rapid response, which can result in an escalation of emotion very quickly. As we continue to explore new media over the course of this semester, this will be important to remember.
