WARNING: Bloggers beware

From my reads on social networking, one lesson that has been consistently mentioned is, "INVEST TIME!"  Web 2.0 tools are fascinating and present almost endless possibilities.  However, they are hinged on engagement from the creators and from the users.  A strategy must be developed in order to draw readers to the blog but also to keep them coming back.  Such a feat cannot be achieved by merely creating a weekly post about library news.  It is crucial to any blog's success that the creator is prepared to spend time, thought, blood, sweat and tears in order to make it worthwhile to readers.  The strategy must also establish what the intent of the blog is going to be.  What is the library hoping to achieve through this blog?  The objective of most blogs is to disseminate information and draw users to the library.  However, do they need and value feedback from users?  The library should be prepared to foster a relationship with its users through the blog.  This may demand time but in the end it can be quite fruitful. 

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Blog-o-mania!

I think blogging really forces you to pause and reflect on what it is you're writing about.  Unlike a regular writing assignment that only gets read by a professor, blogging each week on our course's topics requires me to be a little more honest.  This may sound horrible, I know, but the fact that anyone online may be reading this forces me to not just regurgitate what I believe the professor wants to hear.  I have to take better stock of my own thoughts and perceptions.  I can honestly say that blogging makes me take a whole new approach to how I communicate what I'm learning.  

Also, since I am required to blog, I have developed a need to study the craft of blogging.  Before beginning this course, I would simply read blogs that kept me informed on topics of interest to me.  Now, I am observing the bloggers' tactics.  Does the blogger tell stories?  Do they write with passion?  Are there many related links embedded into the content?  Also, are there comments present from other readers and does the blogger respond to those comments?  These are all elements of a blog that went unnoticed to me before.  Just by now being aware and able to critically study them, I know that I am already learning a lot from this course.

Image from:  http://jennyartichoke.wordpress.com/category/sixties/