This is part of the first assignment in NET11 The Internet – Communications. The idea here is to list five tips for new bloggers.
As the assignment is a running log for the entire Study Period, I am not going to post five tips for new bloggers in general, but five tips in relation to setting up the blog required for this assignment. This is because the blog required for this assignment is a different category to the general blogs posted on the internet.
I haven’t had much experience with blogs, this is the first one I’ve written, and I don’t generally read them, because most of the blogs I’ve come across don’t hold any fascination for me. This blog, and the blogs of my fellow students are being written for an academic purpose – to show that we can use the tools, to allow us to show how we have gone about solving problems, distributing “hints and tips” we have found, to describe our other assignments and to show the path our learning in this subject has taken.
TOP FIVE TIPS
1. BREATHE!!! – It generally assists your marks if you are breathing while you are studying. The likelihood is that the instructors don’t like to give marks to those who stopped breathing at the first assignment. If necessary, taking deep breaths while walking around the room wondering:
• whose bright idea it was to start studying again?
• what on earth do I have to do?
• where do I start?
• why am I worrying – I CAN use all the tools they are telling us to?
• where have my family gone and why is the cat cowering on top of the fridge?
can be useful as you then have all the stress out in the one place. Try hard not to take the stress back inside again.
2. Familiarise yourself with the settings – Once you have settled on a site (or a number of them if you really feel masochistic), go through it all and play with the settings. After all, what’s the worst you can do to the site? Just don’t forget NOT to hit the one that says something like “delete my blog” BEFORE you have your marks at the end of the Study Period. There’s nothing worse than having hours (days/weeks/months) of work deleted at the touch of a button simply because you misread the label or pressed it because it got in your way. Back up all of your posts with text files, just in case the little internet gremlins get into your system (or theirs) and remove your posts. At least then you can repost long enough to get your marks.
3. Don’t overload your site with “features” – Just because the site CAN do it, doesn’t mean you HAVE to! Think about your target audience. Will they all really be able to read the flashing red gothic writing on the fluorescent green background? Will they appreciate the fact that you’ve made the cursor spit out stars as it moves across the screen, and turns into an explosion whenever they click on a link? If you have sound linked to your blog, do you really think they’ll all love the Sex Pistols blaring out “God Save the Queen” every time they open your blog as much as you do (alright, I’ve just shown my age)? Don’t forget that even now, in the broadband age, there are still people with slow computer connections, and every single “feature” that you put into your blog not only distracts from the information you are trying to post, but can also cause problems for the person trying to open your blog.
4. Be careful about personal information you post – Don’t forget, these blogs aren’t being posted in a “closed” forum. Anyone around the world can stumble onto your blog, and not everyone out there is “user friendly”. Just because the site says no-one can see your personal information, doesn’t mean they can’t. There are people around who will take that as a personal challenge to their skills (which can be very useful at times) and will attempt to break the security just for the hell of it. If you want to put private information into your blog, that’s your decision, but just be aware of what you are telling people. After all, does everyone really need to see the pic of the aftermath of the office party last Christmas when you were discovered face down on the photocopier?
5. Relax and try to have some fun with the blog – It will not help your marks if it takes the instructor 2 packets of No-Doze and a share in Gloria Jean’s Coffee House just to read through your intro. The aim of the blog is to show that you have understood the concepts and can use the various tools, but that doesn’t mean it has to be dry and boring. Don’t try to step outside of your comfort zone with your postings, but do still try to post to your blog in an informative and interesting way.
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5 comments:
Don't try to step out of your comfort zones?
Gosh I read this and realise that is just what I have been doing. And what a load of bollocks.
No offence meant by the way. I am just not that kind of person and your post makes me see that I need to get back on the experimental trail.
You're right though, as far as a tip for a NEW blogger goes this is cool. But for someone who has already played the field I should NOT be taking this route.
Time to take some risks I think.
Well, the topic DID say "Five Tips for a NEW Blogger".
I would say that a "new" blogger, stepping out of using the types of words/information/opinions that they feel comfortable with would surely sound a death knoll instantly for their blog, because they would come across as trying too hard to be someone else and not being themselves.
I thought that was part of the background in blogs - people can put forward their information etc but still be themselves.
I'm sorry Judi,
What I was trying to say was that your post makes me think that I need to take the next step in my blogging.
I was criticising ME not you.
Your tips Are good and hit the mark perfectly.
When I said bollocks I was refering to my tendency to stay with in my comfort zone and that I need to move now to stretch the boundaries.
You're dead right about putting forward your info but I also see blogs as a way to engage in conversations you would not otherwise be able to.
Sorry if it sounded like I thought your ideas were wrong. That was not my intention.
Cheers,
Rhys
Thank you. Yes, I did read it at a criticism to my list, but now I can see what you were saying.
One of the reasons I've never been interested in blogging is that I don't think I've ever seen one that has people actually commenting and making a discussion out of what was being said. I think that all the blogs I've seen have been people contemplating their navel (and I think that their navel must be the centre of some of their universes), or like one of my g/f's, using it to tell everyone she's close to about what's been happening in her life. She has been fighting breast cancer and has been blogging her journey, so the messages left for her have simply been messages of support.
Most of my discussions on the internet have been in html chat rooms, where your conversations are happening in the here and now, not being answered over long periods of time. Unfortunately at times there are other disrupting forces at play in the chat rooms which mean the discussions may get hijacked or disintegrate into name calling and childishness, but considering I've seen that happening in the comments pages in the newspapers too, I think that seems to be something common.
The other discussions I've been involved in are usually in discussion boards. We have some at work, where you can leave questions, answer them etc, just like in the NET11 discussion boards. They don't tend to get hijacked into abusive conversations as easily.
Hi Judi
You may not have read a blog where discussion takes place but you've gone one better and that's to create one. Here we are having a conversation about the merits of blogging and it all stemmed from you saying what was true for you - not from being some clever, experienced blogger. Your thoughts about breathing as a new bloggers tip is on he money. And it's straight from the heart...and I get it. So keep writing like that. Not about something external but about what's going on for you in the learning process. I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation.
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