Sometimes you want to blog about an article in the New York Times. The only problem is that the page you’re linking to will after a week or so becomes archived and inaccessible, unless the reader wants to pay for it. To have a permanent link from your blog to the article, use the NY Times Link Generator (via weblogg-ed).
Of course, it depends on one’s audience, but Darren Rowse (his Problogger blog is ranked in the top 10 of Technorati) recommends writing with a conversational voice in your blogging:
This one is more of a personal preference than anything so take it or leave it – but I attempt to make my writing style as conversational as possible. I try to write in a similar way to the way I speak.
For many readers, a conversational voice is more inviting. In evaluating good and bad websites, the wiki start5696 has such a voice:
1. One of the biggest problems with a bad website is horrible navigation. If a person can’t find the links, how the heck are they supposed to use the site?
Take this site for example: http://shopping.aol.com/
Can you find where the products are to click on to buy? Because I know I sure as heck can’t!2. Another is bad background choices. If your website causes Eplictic seziures, I doubt anyone’s going to want to surf there. Like this link here: http://www.dokimos.org/ajff/
Think you need sunglasses to use that website, wouldn’t you say?
Again, it depends on one’s audience, but the tone adds a nice touch of humor that makes reading his evaluations more interesting.
One of the best introductions to maintaining a blog is Mark Bernstein’s “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web,” which are:
A good example of these tips is the blog “Silver Screenings.” Since it is new (only 2 posts), items #4, 5, and 9 are not yet present. However, all the other items are, and quite obviously. “Silver Screenings” has excellent content, but what really struck me even before I started reading the posts was the title, tagline, and design:
Silver Screenings
Essays and Reviews of Black and White Films
The title fits the topic perfectly, and the tagline tells you exactly what this blog is about. And the color scheme accentuates the title and blog’s focus.
Usually, when we set up a blog, we think about it for perhaps a month or two, considering its focus. In a class, we don’t have that luxury. But within a few weeks, you should finetune what you wish to write about. Once you’ve done that, then consider a title (and a tagline) that reflects that interest and write a blurb for the “About” page that tells readers what your blog is about. You’ll also want to build up a blogroll of blogs that write about that interest and create “categories” for your posts.
Problogger is a good source for down-to-earth information on writing and maintaining a blog. This recent post of his is titled “Understanding the rules of great content.” In breaking down blog writing, he gives his 1/9/90 rule, which is:
1% create content
9% enrich content
90% consume content
As he comments, it’s “unrealistic to believe that you’re going to create new stuff out of thin air — all the time.” But it is possible to be in the 9% that enrich content rather frequently, primarily by “providing a critical perspective and commentary to existing content.” And he gives 18 tips on how to do that. It’s worth reading.
Educause Learning Initiative (via Kairosnews) has a “7 things you should know” series of articles:
In general, Educause is a good resource on the integration of technology into learning.
