A few weeks ago at the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) conference in St. Louis, I met a teacher who had just attended a workshop on using blogs in the classroom.
We started chatting about all the ways you can use blogs in an educational setting and upon learning that I have five blogs, she asked “How did you learn to blog?”
The question kind of threw me for a loop. Because honestly, I hadn’t really thought about it and blogging is just something I do. You know, go to work, wash the car, blog, go to the grocery store. It’s become part of my weekly practice.
Learning by Blogging
Since then I’ve been thinking a lot about “the process” of blogging. The “why” seems pretty obvious. Blogging gives the author a voice, a soapbox, or an outlet to connect and share their experience (along with video, pictures and other stuff that matters to them) with others. But the “how” is, at least to me, a more interesting question.
The more I thought about it, the clearer the answer became: You just do it.
Actually the answer is twofold: First, read lots of blogs. Two, just start blogging. That answer may sound simple, but like most things in life, the best way to learn how to do anything is to roll up your sleeves, jump in, do the bricolage thang, and get busy.
There are lots of great (and free) blog platforms out there. Here’s my not-so-complete list of some of my faves:
Read/Write
The best way to learn how to blog is to surf the blogosphere and find blogs that you find interesting. Then start reading. Pay attention to how they structure content. Take some mental notes on what you like and don’t like. Then integrate the stuff you like into your own blog.
Early on in my foray into the blogosphere, I was very, very lucky to have stumbled on a couple of really, really good blogs. Almost from the get-go, Jason Shellen, Caternia Fake, and Biz Stone provided me with a good foundation on learning "how to blog."
Looking back, I can see how reading their blogs gave me a good sense of how to engage readers, structure content, be a good citizen of an online community, and find my blog voice. It was like a master class in blogging.
Blog voice? Yep. I think that Biz explains the "blog voice" deal best:
“Writing every day helps you develop your talent. You will stare less at a blank page and wonder what to fill it with because you are so familiar with the process of translating your thoughts to text. And because blog entries tend to be short bursts or paragraphs, you will develop an ability to say more with less clutter.
Even if you have no idea what to write about when you first start your blog, you'll discover that the daily exercise can help you cultivate a voice...Your signature style will evolve as you build a relationship with your readers. You may even find out that you have opinions and interests on subjects you ordinarily wouldn't have thought about (via).”
At first this is the hard part. But listen to Biz (he IS a genius after all) and just start writing. I promise it will get easier and soon you’ll find your own niche and blog voice too!
Connect
The quality of interaction in the blogosphere is driven by active participation, feedback, and contributions by the community. So when you run across a great post or video, leave a comment. Actively engage in the conversation. And remember, social media isn’t just about web 2.0 technology, it’s about relationships.
A quick story. One day when I was having lunch with my friend Maryanne, also an avid reader of Biz’s blog (say THAT three times fast), and I was trying to decide what kind of tea to get. Out of the blue Maryanne says, “Oh Biz said to try xyz tea.”
We ended up having this whole conversation about tea based around one of his blog posts. Finally it dawned on us that we were talking about Biz like he was part of our circle of friends. But therein is the power of blogging.
Critics often characterize online communities as spaces devoid of human connection, emotion, or interaction. However, the effective use of social media technologies provides people with the ability to interject emotion in the online space, thereby providing opportunities to get to know and/or form connections with others--just as they do in the "real" world.
The Recap
Learning "how" to blog is a pretty simple process:
- Find some blogs.
- Read a bunch of blogs.
- Then get busy blogging.
I’m positive that if you follow those three easy steps that you’ll be an active and contributing member of the blogosphere too. So join the conversation. And who knows, before you know it, you might go crazy and end up with five blogs too!
Now get blogging!
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