18 May 2009

Why do I blog?

I came across this yesterday via a Twitter link.
My AP Literature and Composition students are working on their senior presentations. I have promised them that I too will complete a research project. This blog has been a huge part of my project, as I am researching why people blog. I have read several articles pertaining to my topic, but I would love to gather as much information from “real live bloggers”, if at all possible. So, if you are willing to participate, I have a few questions I would love to ask you. Perhaps we could make this a meme and you could post in on your on blog and just leave a link under my comments…..
The blog is at http://stateofdenmark2.wordpress.com/2009/05/16/senior-project-meme/

I have decided to write my responses both here and on my "work" blog.

1. How long have you been blogging?

I began this blog at the beginning of 2008, but had already had 14 months experience on my work blog.

2. Why did you start blogging?

I was already writing book reviews and storing them in a couple of places, but I didn't have control over what happened in either of those places. I decided that it would be nice to post my own book reviews, and perhaps write about other book-related issues. I made the decision to write a review of every book that I read, not just those submitted to me by authors and publishers for reviewing.

3. What have you found to be the benefits of blogging?

In the first place, deciding to write a blog post containing the book reviews gave me a chance to reflect on what I had read. Then I realised that there are others doing the same, and that I am actually part of a community of bloggers who were also reviewing books.
I now see blogging as the beginning of a conversation, but also the opportunity to connect with people in other interactive ways such as polls, competitions, and comments.

4. How many times a week do you post an entry?

My aim is daily, but in fact it is probably more like 10 times a week now.

5. How many different blogs do you read on a regular basis?

I keep track of a number of other similar crime fiction blogs through a separate site I have set up called Crime Fiction Journeys. There I keep track of roughly 100 other blogs. But I also run an RSS reader on my computer and there I track another 50 or so on a daily basis. The RSS reader delivers in most cases the entire post and I can read them on my computer. I belong to a couple of projects like Sunday Salon and Weekly Geeks which between them account for quite a number more.

6. Do you comment on other people's blogs?

I regularly comment on a dozen or so blogs, but with the "projects" I will often make an effort to comment on all the Weekly Geeks postings (about 30 or so of them), and on all Sunday Salon ones who have a crime fiction interest. I like people to comment on my posts so I believe in doing the same.

7. Do you keep track of how many visitors you have? Is so, are you satisfied with your numbers?

I have an "amazing" counter running on my blog, and I also use Sitemeter to monitor my daily count of visitors. I now regularly get over 100 visitors a day, and although that is not huge, it makes me feel my blog posts are worthwhile. I also use Feedjit as that tells me what posts draw people in, and I run Clustrmaps although that doesn't show me much more than locations.

8. Do you ever regret a post that you wrote?

Not yet.

9. Do you think your audience has a true sense of who you are based on your blog?

In the banner at the top of my blog I describe how MYSTERIES IN PARADISE came into being, and then I have a block in the side panel that tells people more.

10. Do you blog under your real name?

Yes, but I use an avatar image rather than my real photo. I use this avatar also on Twitter and FriendFeed so it has sort of become synonymous with me. In my "work" digital footprints I use my "real" photo.

11. Are there topics that you would never blog about?

My posts are almost always related to crime fiction. I would never use my blog for political comment or for commercial purposes.

12. What is the theme/topic of your blog?

It began as a place to post crime fiction reviews, but has expanded into other topics, but always related to crime fiction topics.

13. Do you have more than one blog? If so, why?

I have a number actually
On another blogging platform, I might actually have set these up in a "tabbed" interface rather than as separate blogs. But each blogging platform allows you to do different things, and not others, and for most things Blogger suits me quite well.
  • Smik's Learning Space is a blog I use occasionally when I am doing professional development for teachers. In it I store resources for my presentations.
  • You Are Never Alone is my "work" blog and its focus is very different, as is its content.
So ultimately I blog because I enjoy it, it enhances my sense of being in a community, and it allows me to exercise some creativity and even use my research skills in a satisfying and purposeful fashion. I never seem to be at a loss for a topic,a nd indeed have had to find some other strategies to keep the number of posts I write down to a sensible number.

The questions if you want to take this meme and run with it for yourself.
1. How long have you been blogging?
2. Why did you start blogging?
3. What have you found to be the benefits of blogging?
4. How many times a week do you post an entry?
5. How many different blogs do you read on a regular basis?
6. Do you comment on other people's blogs?
7. Do you keep track of how many visitors you have? Is so, are you satisfied with your numbers?
8. Do you ever regret a post that you wrote?
9. Do you think your audience has a true sense of who you are based on your blog?
10. Do you blog under your real name?
11. Are there topics that you would never blog about?
12. What is the theme/topic of your blog?
13. Do you have more than one blog? If so, why?

2 comments:

Molly said...

I wanted to help out a fellow English teacher, so I have written a post that answers these questions to be published at the end of the week.

I hope several bloggers take part in this survey. I enjoy reading about how and why personal blogs come into existence.

Kerrie said...

I'll be waiting to read your post Molly.

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