student bloggers must learn filtering
This article in the Chronicle of Higher Education suggests that blogs can be a hindrance to their writers in the job search process. The premise of the article is that blogs are a place for posting unfiltered thoughts and rants, and that bloggers can forget that someone is reading.
I think this is a very important lesson for students to learn -- not just about blogs, but about corporate email and any kind of professional communication. In this way, experimenting with blogging is a way of learning self-control, and learning to be your own editor.
Still, I could be wrong... I could be leading my students down a path into danger. I was always surprised, when I asked students to blog on livejournal, how few of them followed instructions about protecting their posts so that only their designated friends could read them. Some even used some variant of their real name as their username, despite my instructions not to do so.
What guidance should we be offering to Blog@Case users about their blogs?
Comments
What kind of guidance?
How about, "it depends."
1st decide what you think the main thrust of your blog will be -- personal thoughts, political, about a hobby, interest, sports or some other category.
Then be prepared to abandon it and start over if you realize that isn't the way you want to take it.
The great thing about blogging is that the cost is so low it is easy to just start over. You aren't bound to one format.
For those that want to be professional writers or do any writing for a living, don't treat the blog as a dumping ground for lazy thoughts. Use it to hone and discipline. The best blogs source their material. They back-up what they are saying.
Most importantly, the best blogs use proper grammer and employ some spell checking.
That's just off the top of my head.
Chas,
thanks for your comments -- I think they'll be useful to my students!
And yes, I definitely insist on proper grammar (and spelling) though I understand that not everyone is a perfect typist, and we can't edit our comments!