Monday, July 2, 2018

Blogging Is Dead (Nope)

I used to blog.


The Twitter thread has taken the place of the long form writing blog post. Somewhere between the end of a lot of RSS readers and the ability to link tweets together blog posts started to get fewer and fewer. Eventually, it seemed posting became relatively rare (with certain exceptions.)

I personally quit posting here, except for the occasional poem, years ago. I also quit regularly visiting other blogs that I would go to every day with my morning coffee. Maybe I was burned out, maybe I was over-busy, maybe I found something else to do I preferred. I don't believe that I am the only one.

Have conversations over complex issues become too simplified on Twitter? I suppose that depends on your own perception. I do know that I learned much more about people whose opinions I trust by reading blog posts over tweets. Respect was earned on a blog.

Is it time to rejuvenate my blog? I think so. I am planning on my students blogging this coming year, something that I have not had them do in years. That means I better get to it myself. Would you like to join me and start/continue writing on a blog? Maybe we together can make the medium an even more valuable learning space.

I would like to take this space to thank the amazing educators that have continued to blog over the years. I have learned much from you and you have challenged me over and over. If you had quit like I did, I wouldn't be doing this now. 

6 comments:

  1. I, too, have not blogged with any great regularity since the “good old days” of blogging. I miss those days. The network was smaller and the community was bigger. Unfortunately I think we can’t let the failure of others to share in these more meaningful spaces and/or take the time to comment dissuade is from doing so. I had my recent cohort of grad students blog and their reflections were so good, they were so interesting to read, and I felt like a hypocrite asking them to craft a space for reflection that I knew more than likely would be abandoned in the coming months. Why do we write? For us? For others? It all comes down to the act of blogging as a reflective learning process which is why I hope it continues on and on. Blogging isn’t dead until the voices of educators die alongside it. And I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

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    1. I agree, we need to write first for us and then for an audience. It can be really hard though when easy engagement is only a clever tweet away.

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  2. It's been 'on my list' to start my blog back up again as well. I enjoy writing, and it helps me solidify my opinions on things. Maybe it will get a boost up the ol' priorities list thanks to you.

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  3. This is my third attempt to leave a comment. Let's hope I don't lose this one, too. I hope you'll start writing here again as you've sad. I learned from and was way more connected to my PLN through blogging and commenting than I ever have been just through interactions on Twitter, FB, Instagram, and LinkedIn. And look, you've already got three comments! I can't remember the last time I received three comments on a post! ;)

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    1. Thanks for the comment. I think that blogging, like everything else I do, has a shelf life. I plan on continuing writing here, but I don't know for how long.

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