#3 Blogging is conversing

Even when the purpose of blogging is primarily self-reflective it’s like a conversation with yourself unfolding over time. But it’s a conversation that happens primarily via text.

That’s enough to stop lots of people right there. There are a raft of other ways to engage online besides writing extensively. My partner describes using social bookmarks like del.ici.ous or furl as “blogging without writing”. I’ve been loving Twitter with it’s to the point question “what are you doing?” and 140 character limit to answer- even a busy, part-time professional mom has time for that. And if you’re not on Facebook yet, wait a week, and you will be!

But the deep, rich conversations seem to happen via blogs. There’s so much for career services and student services staff to be exploring and reflecting on these days. I’ll mark this workshop a rousing, roaring success if one or two attendees, along with those of us up at the front, started blogging our work.

Barbara Ganley asks other academics:

“…how can we understand what our students are experiencing if we don’t immerse ourselves in the very processes we ask them to explore? bgblogging

This is the key question for those of us in student services as well.

Ready to start your own blog? If you’re brand new, head on over to Blogger. Once you’re a bit more comfortable you may just find yourself wishing you could do customize things a little more easily. WordPress will let you trick things out just the way you want.