Here’s My Blogging Story! What’s Yours?

Well I’m a bit late to help John Connell with his session at BBC’s Glasgow HQ! But I like the blogging questions and think others would be intrigued by my answers. 1. How did you get into blogging? I’m sure lots of people that are very glad I’m blogger would be totally surprised by the…

Sue Waters

September 18, 2009

3 minutes

blogging

Well I’m a bit late to help John Connell with his session at BBC’s Glasgow HQ!

But I like the blogging questions and think others would be intrigued by my answers.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I’m sure lots of people that are very glad I’m blogger would be totally surprised by the fact that initially I really struggled with the concept of blogging — Why anyone would blog and why others read their blogs?

It took almost a year from being shown what a blog was to becoming a blogger.

The turning point were a result of:

Subscribing to blogs (which gave me a greater appreciate of blogs)
My strong desire to reflect on what I was learning.

2. What were (are?) the motivations?

My podcasts and wiki were excellent for sharing information but weren’t great for other aspects.

Blogging gave me what podcasting and my wiki lacked; the ability to reflect, collaborate, exchange ideas and connect with others. These aspects plus my strong motivation to help others motivates why I blog.

3. How does your “private” blogging relate to your work?

Well my ‘private blogging’ developed into my work.

And if you had told me when I first started blogging that within 8 months I would end up employed by a blogging company — I’d have said Get Real!’

Key events that lead to this were Darren Rowse’s 31 Days Project that made me a better blogger and James Farmer who saw potential!

4. How do you achieve a balance of personal voice and authority

Sorry but I really don’t like words ‘authority’ or ‘expert’

We each have our own personal voices and own opinions — when we share and collaborate together we all gain in knowledge and skills.

5. What can be achieved through blogging that can’t through ordinary news/reporting routes?

Any one, any time, any where can share their thoughts, opinions and beliefs. We can now make the news, report the news and connect in ways we couldn’t previously.

6. How do you follow other blogs and other forms of “public conversation”?

By subscribing to blogs and using twitter.

7. How does your blog connect to others in a “conversation”?

Wonder how John Connell answered this question? Boy that’s a hard one.

My blogs help others become bloggers, or hopefully better bloggers. Working together through engaging in conversations in comments we connect and help with each other.

8. Are there other bloggers you follow especially, others you think are exemplars of the practice?

Really hate those types of questions. Reading blog to me is like reading a novel. Some people like romance, or horror, or sci fi or …… PS don’t make me read a romance 😎

9. How do you feel about “lighter” practices such as Tweeting, facebook status updates etc…?

I think it’s s a mistake to see them as ‘lighter’ practices… a very bad mistake. They are both complementary and becoming increasingly important for bloggers.

Many readers now prefer to grab links to posts from twitter. Others like to read the posts as updates in Facebook.

Blogging is all about making your blog be more easily read by your audience. Twitter, Facebook, RSS feed and email subscription all make it easier for your readers.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So that is my journey… would love to read your responses to John Connell questions!

14 responses to “Here’s My Blogging Story! What’s Yours?”

Shelly Terrell

September 18, 2009 at 7:18 pm

Hello Sue,

It is lovely to hear your story! My blogging story started with you! I read your wiki and blog every step of the way when creating my blog. Thanks for all the great resources you provide!

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Mary Beth Hertz

September 22, 2009 at 9:55 am

Sue,

I think the underlying theme here is engaging your readers, writing for an audience and communicating with others.

Your blog definitely helped me develop my blogging ‘skills’ (if that’s what you call them), and your experiences described in #1 reflect my own. By commenting on blogs and becoming a vocal part of my network, I have been lucky to connect with some amazing people (present company included). I, too, started my blog for personal reasons, which have now blended into a mixture of personal reflection and work-related reflections & experiences.

Great ‘interview!’

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Sue Waters

September 22, 2009 at 12:24 pm

@Shelly I’m pleased that my blogging story started with you — your blog is coming along really well. You must be very proud.

@Mary Beth Thanks and glad you enjoyed my interview style answers. It’s amazing the doors that blogging can open. Good question — ‘blogging skills’or ‘blogging & community skills’?

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Dominique

September 25, 2009 at 9:22 am

Hi Ms. Waters!
To think that you once disliked blogging….. I suppose you never know if you will like something until you try it.
My blogging story:
I had always wanted a website (why?I am not sure, it was simply something that sounded fun). A couple months after my beloved French teacher made an edublogs I petitioned my mom for one. Since it is a site specifically designed for educators and students it seemed safer. I also knew that I could limit personal information that I gave out. My teacher could also give me pointers too. Blogging was my perfect solution. Finally on March 7th I made my blog. From then on I loved it! Ta da!The End.
Not much of a blogging story……
-Dominique

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1. Sue Waters
  
  September 25, 2009 at 6:20 pm
  
  @Dominique, probably more couldn’t relate to why would you blog. Which is why I always tell people that you need to give things a try and that some times take longer to appreciate their impact than others.
  
  Key is we are each different. And this is a message that I like to remind others of because you have to understand this when using it with students.
  
  Wrong. I think yours is a great blogging story and you should be really proud of the post you wrote. It was excellent and I know many adults that would love to have written a post as well as you did.
  
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  1. Dominique
    
    September 25, 2009 at 6:53 pm
    
    Hi Ms. Waters!
    I agree that people need to give things a try. You might always think that you will not like something but then you end up loving it.
    Thank you very much. I think your blogging story is great too. You at first were not even interested but look where blogging has taken you now…..
    Sincerely,
    -Dominique
    
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Ken Allan

September 28, 2009 at 8:08 am

Kia ora e Sue!

You know why I got into blogging, and so does Michele Martin. I blame it on you two. 🙂

But that’s not the real reason.

I got into blogging because I have interests in people, communities and the potential that networking has to permit people within these communities to learn as well as share with others what they know.

I go along with what you say here, with one possible difference. There are blogs (bloggers?) I follow because they share what they find with others and likewise engage me and others in that sharing.

There are iconic bloggers who seem to attract a huge following. These don’t impress me unless they engage me and others in conversation where there is opportunity to participate and share experiences and learning. You do these things, which is why I visit and comment on your posts regularly.

Otherwise I’d just as soon read good old Web1.0 stuff (I do this too!) or go to the library and read books.

Catchya later

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1. Sue Waters
  
  September 28, 2009 at 4:19 pm
  
  @Ken Allan, yes we did sort of lead you astray but in a really good way which I know we are all grateful for.
  
  ‘There are iconic bloggers who seem to attract a huge following’ – agreed who are less likely to engage. It really is a hard one. Mostly I choose not to leave comments on blogs that I know are less likely to engage in conversation.
  
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Victor Hugo Rojas

December 14, 2009 at 7:12 am

Some years ago, I actually started connecting my students using e-mail list and ePals social networking. In 2007, I enthusiasticaly started blogging. I was running a TEFL course for pre-service teachers and I wanted my students to post their answers on a case study task. It was absolutely memorable. Thanks Sue for supporting and inspiring beginners who are stepping little by little to success. By the way, I’ll answer the questionaire and publish it, of course.

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1. Sue Waters
  
  December 15, 2009 at 8:38 am
  
  @Victor, glad you like my story of how I began. Please come back and give me a link to your post if you end up writing your story.
  
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Margaret Libersat

December 19, 2009 at 10:29 pm

Hi,
I’m posting a comment here that we already started discussing on some one of your blogs somewhere in the blogosphere (which already reveals how blog-unsavvy I am). You thought it would be useful to share, so here it is. I’ll try to summarize the give-and-take we had after my posting because that’s actually more interesting than whatever I said. Okay, so the first post was this:

“Hi!
I’m awed at the sheer volume of words and ideas you and other bloggers pour onto the internet in any given week. In fact, I was wondering about proofreading. Please do not take offense as there is no good way to say this, but I find multiple writing errors that your spellchecker must not catch – missing words, hyphens, letters, mistakes that anyone makes in typing a lot of text, fast. Your meaning is clear – no doubt about it. So is this a problem? I really do not know.

I’m wondering if it is simply the way of the future – no time to reread, no time to proofread. It’s part of the changing world of language. Maybe we have the makings of a maxim here – If you blog, you gotta let it go. If you can’t let it go, don’t blog.”

Then, you wrote me the nicest, longest, most patient response in which you
– noted that you struggle with language;
– have discussed the issue in your blogs;
– have improved as a result of all the blogging;
– modestly pointed out that your blog has been effective and successful in spite of your language issue. (Hope that’s a fair summary.)

Whatever I wrote back is irrelevant because those are the main points and I felt fairly chagrined.

Anyway, it IS an interesting juncture in mankind’s linguistic evolution. It does seem that digital communication is throwing the whole world into a language explosion, and this must be a good thing. The fact that form becomes secondary at times (e.g., text-messaging, email, blogging) shouldn’t get in the way – right? In the long run, linguistic growth happens for everybody in some area. The sticklers like me have to get faster and make sacrifices or miss out.
Margaret

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1. Sue Waters
  
  December 22, 2009 at 3:16 pm
  
  Thanks Margaret for posting the comment here because I think it is an important conversation that we all need to have.
  
  Yes I am challenged by language skills. Each day, in some form, lamguage continues to challenge me.
  
  Whether it be trying to work out the right words to say in a post or getting the words to come out of my mouth properly (chuckling knowing those who watched the Edublog Awards heard the words being mixed up).
  
  When I think about it I wonder whether I’ve really told people how much I struggle with language? Perhaps not since I couldn’t find a post that talks about it. Maybe it is time it was written? As it is an important story to tell.
  
  If blogging can improve my language skills, and through blogging I’ve ended up doing the work I’m doing — then imagine how much the online world can help others?
  
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David Truss :: Pair-a-dimes for Your Thoughts » Blogs as Learning Spaces

May 12, 2010 at 5:55 pm

[…] love to see others share their blogging story, and if you do, share them with me and Sue […]

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