The Art of Blogging An approach from reading George Siemens, discussing the blog as a learning tool.

Bibliography:George Siemens(2002), The Art of Blogging - Part 1. Overview, Definitions, Uses, and Implications.George Siemens(2002), The Art of Blogging - Part 2. Getting Started, "How To", Tools, Resources

Blogging is a first generation tool built on, and taking advantage of, the unique attributes of the Internet. It has been dismissed as a self-centered passing fad...and as the new model of interactive journalism, communication, and learning

What is blogging?• Blogging, as with any new (or in transition) concept,

is difficult to define - it has not yet fully become what it will be.

•Blogging is a format constant (archives, links, time stamps, chronological listing of thoughts and links), personalized, community-linked, social, interactive, democratic, new model innovation built on the unique attributes of the Internet.

Uses for bloggingAs an emerging tool, blogging uses have still not been completely explored

• Knowledge sharing and knowledge management• Customer service• Interactive journalism• Communication• Self-expression• Learning• Self-marketing• Campaigning/social reform• Community building • Experience tracking • Storytelling

Uses for bloggingAs an emerging tool, blogging uses have still not been completely explored

•Most common uses for blogging are personal and, considering its origins as a personal web publishing forum, this makes sense. Emerging uses promise opportunities in corporations and education. Further application will also be realized as existing uses (communication, learning, knowledge management, interactive journalism, etc.) are adopted by various industries - notably entertainment, health care, government.

Benefits•Benefits of blogging are numerous (which

explains its rapid growth!). An overriding benefit is the democratization of information. In classic models, knowledge flow was "stopped" and administered by news sources (paper, magazines, TV). Ideas in keeping with current zeitgeist or political agendas received top billing, while unpopular (though necessary for innovation and social transformation) ideas were ignored

Benefits• Fostering the fringe - ideas are evaluated based on merit - not

on source of origin.• Filtering - ideas with merit are filtered through various blogs.

Significant thoughts or posts receive multiple-links and spread viral-like across the blogosphere.

• Multiple perspectives - one-sided perspectives of newspapers are replaced by passionate debates exploring virtually every facet of an idea or concept.

• Barrier elimination - society is about barriers - actual or unspoFor example, I don't run in the same circle as Bill Gates - a socio-economic barrier (at the absolute minimum!). In society, this generally means that I do not have the benefit of Mr. Gates' wisdom...blogging, however changes that. Opportunities now exist to hear regular thoughts from people like Ray Ozzie, Mitch Kapor, and Larry Lesig.ken.

Benefits• Free flow - any idea can be expressed...and accessed by

any one. The process of blogging separates good ideas from poor ideas. The process itself has built in quality control - try that in traditional media!

• Real time - discussions and interactions happen right NOW. Waiting for tomorrow's newspaper or radio program seems like an eternity compared to real time blogging.

• Links and connections - the complexity of an information heavy society requires specialization. Yet specialization is futile if a process is not created to link specialties. Blogging serves this purpose extremely well. Disparate fields of interest and thought are brought together (and dissected) in the machinations of bloggers.

Implications

•As a disruptive technology, blogging is altering (or perhaps responding to?) many aspects of information/content creation and use. These changes are not without impact. What are some of the implications of a tool that functions at the same speed as the medium it serves?

Implications

•Content creation and consumption on the Internet has finally caught up with the Internet itself. Traditional suppliers of content (publishers, media, news organizations) will face substantial pressures to respond appropriately, or cease being relevant.

•Decentralization of content and distribution. This is a trend well underway on the Internet as a whole. Napster capitalized on it...and blogging is the "canary in a mine" reacting to (and reflecting) it.

Implications

•The user is in control. The end user (or audience) of a service or product has acquired a central (rather than previous fringe) role. Disagree with a blogger? Tell him/her via "comments links", and initiate a dialogue with not only the author, but other readers as well. Disagree with a newspaper columnist? Throw out the newspaper...

•Conversation vs. lecture...I have a mind...I have an opinion. It counts. Just like yours.

Implications

•The pipe is more important than the content. By various estimates, bloggers number between 750,000 and 1 million. The ecosystem of blogging is more important than the content being generated. The content has a life (i.e. new technology becomes obsolete)...but the process for content acquisition (blogging) stays continually fresh.

Implications

•Shared meaning and understandings. Knowledge is acquired and shaped as a social process - resulting in spiraling: I say something, you comment on it, I evaluate it, comment and present a new perspective, you take it to the next level...and the process repeats until a concept has been thoroughly explored.

•Ideas are presented as the starting point for dialogue, not the ending point.

Getting Started • The best way to learn to

blog is to blog. Fortunately, getting started is fairly simple.

• A hosted service is the easiest and quickest way to start. Services like Blogger allow new users to set up an account and begin posting literally in a matter of minutes. Blogger can host the blog, or the user can post to his/her own site.

How to blogWriting effective blogs is similar to effective writing for traditional media. While sentence construction, basic grammar, and spelling are important, bloggers are often more concerned about communicating

concepts.

1. Start. As stated earlier, blogging is best learned by blogging...and by reading other bloggers. So...start.

2. Know your motivation. Why are you blogging? What do you hope to achieve?

3. Link. The heart of blogging is linking...linking and commenting. Connecting and communicating - the purpose of the Internet.

4. Experiment. Developing a writing style is an evolutionary process

5. Use life and your experiences as your "idea generation" file.

6. Get an opinion. Then express it.7. Express your personality...let

your humour, your perspective on life, and your values shine in your writing.

8. Post regularly. This is important.9. Keep writing clear and concise.

Avoid jargon...but utilize the unique aspects of the medium (visual, links, sound). Focus on communication (function) before form.

10. Write for a reason, not recognition. Most bloggers have small audiences. Satisfaction is derived from the writing process, not the audience response.

Tools & Resources for BloggingAs you progress in blogging, you may find increased interest in additional tools to enhance your blog. Many resources are available...and the list is expanding continually

• eatonweb - Extensive resource page, including definitions, tools, books, and courses

• Microcontent News - Covers: "the microcontent sector: weblogs, Webzines, email digests, and personal publishing.. as well as how weblogs combine to form the Blogosphere.“

• Blogroots - An excellent resource listing tools, accessories, directories, and books

• Blogging Software Roundup - You can get lost in this list! Lots of information

• Weblogs Compendium - Tools - Extensive list of blog tools• elearnspace - blogs - Listing of blog resources and articles• Library Weblogs - Link-rich resource, focused, but not limited to,

libraries• Weblog to Moblog - Nice overview article of mobile blogs • Code of Ethics - Short article addressing an important consideration for

all bloggers - ethics• History of Weblogs - See also Dave Winer's take on blog history

Extending Blogs - Aggregating

A few days (or even hours!) of searching the blogosphere can overwhelm newcomers. The amount of information is incredible. How can a user keep track of various blogs? It seems impossible to stay in touch with more than a hand full of bloggers each day.

For discussion

• This approach George Siemens in 2002 still relevant?

• The blog can be a concrete example of the Theory of Cooperative Freedom?

• Where does the blog regarding the emergence of social networks?

The Art of Blogging An approach from reading George Siemens, discussing the blog as a learning tool.

Bibliography:George Siemens(2002), The Art of Blogging - Part 1. Overview, Definitions, Uses, and Implications.George Siemens(2002), The Art of Blogging - Part 2. Getting Started, "How To", Tools, Resources