Tip:
Everybody’s blogging, right? So why not you? Recall what Herman Melville wrote, "We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results." A perfect description of blogging, don’t you think?
The term Blog or Weblog started in 1999, and is defined in Webster’s dictionary as a “diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page.” More importantly, it says that blogs are “typically updated daily” and that “blogs often reflect the personality of the author.” For more, see “Why Blog?” and also note that Will Richardson, in Webogg-ed, shares multiple sources of why people blogin “Why Weblogs?”.
Also, Richardson writes about “Blogging and RSS — the ‘What’s it?’ and ‘How To’ of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators.”
In 2002 Chris Pirillo wrote “The Blogger’s Manifesto” that provides some of the ethos of blogging. Although they may not all apply today, here are the first seven:
1. Life is uncensored.
2. My blog does not capture the full me.
3. Judge my thoughts, but not me.
4. If you don’t like what you see, look elsewhere.
5. I love talking about my life.
6. I love writing about other people’s lives.
7. I will post whenever I feel like posting.
First ask yourself why you want a blog. Check out the “Ten Tips for Building a Bionic Weblog” for some ideas. Remember: many people who write blogs are just like you and me — maybe not journalists but people who believe they have something to say. We may not even know that we could offend others or provide personal information. Also remember that this is the world WIDE Web, so don’t take what people write as personal toward you unless they write about you.
In “Why Blog?”, LibraryPlanet wrote that any blog should be because you have something to say, not because you want attention.
Next Tip: TBA
