After studying a number of the blog entries given to our class, there are a few patterns I've been noticing: techniques that definitely work as opposed to others.
1. Keep it moderately short. Some entries tended to go off on tangents that didn't relate to the main point of the article. Personal connections can be helpful, or humurous even, but they ultimately only help the reader if they are related to what the reader is supposed to be learning.
2. Pictures, videos, and links are all helpful! Not only did they help to illustrate what the blogger was saying, but they also made the author seem more credible. Having evidence to back up the point the writer is illustrating makes the reader more confident in the fact that the information they are learning is correct.
3. Teach or share information with the reader, don't have a blog just be a personal diary. If you're writing for an audience, especially a selected audience (teachers, for example), they are reading the blog for a reason - getting ideas for a class, help for a certain situation, etc. So complaining about how much you didn't want to go to work that morning probably won't be appealing.
I'll try to follow these tips and those of others' that I read :)
Just a quick thought about the length of blog entries. First of all, I agree that the shorter, the better! It should be easy to open the page, read through the content, and move on.
ReplyDeleteHow would you propose handling an entry that you feel IS getting excessively long? Would you rather it be written out all the way, or broken into smaller sub-postings?
Everything here seems logical enough. This wasn't covered in your post, but it was nice that you split up your main points into numbered paragraphs, which made everything easy to digest.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about video clips and pictures. That is definitely a tip I am going to use in my blog! Also, good point about know who you blogging audience is. I like the idea that a blog isn't necessarily just for you but for your followers and blogging community. I think a good blog keeps others in mind and involved! Nice post!
ReplyDelete