I'll start off by saying the semester really did fly by. I clearly remember working on creating The Go Blue Crew page, but now it's filled with tons of great blog posts by our five authors. Before I started blogging, I thought that the only people who blogged were weirdos who sat in their basement because they didn't have anything important to do with their lives. Now that I have been exposed to many different kinds of blogs, I realize that many brilliant and educated people blog. Also, not all blogs are just for fun, some are very academic and are only open to people who the authors deem fit to contribute to the conversation. I also realize that blogging is a process. You can't try to plan out your blog post or think too much, blogging is spontaneous, and that's what makes it so great. The best bloggers are people who are able to sit down and write about whatever is on their mind while hitting the backspace button as few times as possible. I find that the best blog posts I wrote, were the ones that I was most interested in writing and were edited the least. The one thing I did have to be mindful of, was not letting my blogging style of writing carry over into my academic writing. There were more than a few occasions where I was writing a paper for another course and I had to remind myself that this wasn't going up on Blogger.
In terms of how I feel about myself as a blogger, I think I have come a very long way since the beginning of the semester. Originally, I was a bit technology shy, and was afraid to insert images, hyperlinks and videos, partly because I was unsure how to do it. Now, I have many of those things embedded in all of my posts and I think it makes them far more interesting to read. I also realize that as I started to blog more frequently, I began to develop my own voice in my posts. It's becoming more clear to me what kind of blogger I am, and with each post I make, I am gaining more confidence as a contributor. In the future, I would very much welcome an opportunity to contribute to a blog, whether it be in a course at Michigan or for something else. One of the reasons that I have become confident in my blogging ability, is that in this class we blogged about topics ranging from Facebook and Google to the earthquake in Japan. This has helped shape me into a versatile blogger and an overall better writer than I was before this semester started.
Citation: http://www.sushidating.com/images/blog.JPG
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with everything you say, especially the fact that "you can't try to plan out your blog post or think too much, blogging is spontaneous, and that's what makes it great." I have never written something like this, so rough-cut. Whenever I think of blogging, I think of the famous "word vomit" from Mean Girls. Not because I think about it as disgusting, but because it is a place where you can blurt out what you think, whether it is academic or not. Therefore, it's a great and easy way to express yourself!
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteYour post is unique in the sense that you truly speak of how its hard to stop writing when you get going in a blog. You almost have to limit what you say, so that you can effectively get your point across and not destroy your conveyed message. Overall I enjoyed your post and truly loved blogging with you. Keep it up.
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your definition of what constitutes a great post. I loved when you said, "The best bloggers are people who are able to sit down and write about whatever is on their mind while hitting the backspace button as few times as possible." It's true...blogging is definitely a spontaneous notion and I think the reason why we find it so fun is because it is extremely new to us. I also completely agree that it is important to keep academic writing separate. There is a completely different tone of voice for our blog than there is for let's say, a research paper for an art history class. Overall I also think you have improved as a blogger, in general I think all five of us have. We are now blogging much more frequently about a wide range of topics and inserting images, youtube clips, links and more. It was great to see how The Blue Crew has developed over the semester!
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading everyones reflections on blogging posts it is pretty clear that we all had very similar misconceptions about blogging when we first came into this class. It is actually funny to see how wrong we were, as well as how much we've all grown to enjoy and appreciate blogging and the blogosphere. I strongly agree with the point you made about not allowing the casual tone of blog writing to carry into other academic writing. When I first began blogging, I was too formal and sounded too academic. Now, I have developed a tone specifically for blogging, but like you, I also need to make an conscious effort to not let this tone carry into my academic papers in other classes. Overall, it really is great to see how we all have individually developed as bloggers and how The Go Blue Crew has grown and developed as well!