Sneaking back into the Comment Challenge today, I was forced to think about my blog commenting strategy by Michele’s task for Day 28. Well, I didn’t have one did I! Not anything that I was aware of anyway. I suppose my strategy was to say something when I thought I could make a contribution and to pass on by, if not.
We were encouraged to read a post by Caroline Middlebrook (who is what I’d call a professional blogger), and in doing so I had to wrestle with what I wanted out of being a participant in the blogosphere.
This took me back to why I started my blog and what I hoped to get out of it. I’m definitely not in it for the money (at this point in time), but I realise I might need to think about what return I get for my efforts. This means that I’ll need to make an effort to get a return – very rarely will you make a profit if you don’t make the initial investment. But whatever you’re blogging (or commenting) for, be it fame, fortune or fellowship, the principles of/for making connections must be the same.
My motives are more about having/using my blog as a place where I can develop my portfolio (as process) and put some of my ideas, experiences, reflections and work, ‘out there’. I know I’ll learn a lot more if people ‘talk back’ and leave comments in response to what I write. If this is to occur, I’ll need to be somewhat strategic about what I write about and make the connections between that and what I read on other blogs. I have been challenged to think about how to gain some momentum in all this, and if I want to be able to add value to what I do (and gain some sort of confirmation that I’m traveling down the right path) I’ll need to get people to have a reason to visit me. I can see that it is probably up to me to do this – be proactive about it. Maybe I have to stop thinking about how many dots I’ve got on my clustrmap or how many subscribe to my rss feed and think more about my participation in my learning community and those I come across. I’m in this to learn as well as to share.
So, I think my strategy will develop and evolve over time and hopefully support my needs and aspirations. Being authentic, discerning, generous, provocative & critical (if necessary) would be some of the types of responses I’d provide when commenting and this would (I hope) encourage others to visit me to what I’ve got to say. Over time I’ll also probably tend to refine my list of favourite blogs but realise that this network will be fluid as I come across new ones and maybe stop visiting those I don’t get any value from. I hope that through my commenting I might also challenge and encourage others on their learning journeys.
Hmmm, I’ve been surprised how well the ‘commercial’ metaphor has applied to my thoughts on educational blogging. Thanks to Michele for another thought provoking activity…
You wrote this: “Maybe I have to stop thinking about how many dots I’ve got on my clustrmap or how many subscribe to my rss feed and think more about my participation in my learning community and those I come across.”
And this is something I, too, have to keep in mind. It’s good to refocus and reflect on why we are doing what we are doing from time to time.
Thanks
Kevin
I think you make a really great point about how we can get hung up on how many people have signed up for our feeds or are represented on our cluster maps, forgetting that it’s our participation in the community that really helps drive our learning. Although Sue Waters is a pretty prolific blogger, I actually think that she accomplishes more and creates an even bigger impression as a result of her commenting behavior. She goes out of her way to comment on as many blogs as she can and follows conversations on those blogs religiously. I think it’s a big reason that she’s developed such a huge network and I have no doubt that it has contributed tremendously to her professional development. She’s certainly my model for blog commenting! 🙂
Thanks Kevin, as only a reasonably new educational blogger, I’ve found that the Comment Challenge has helped me think a lot about what I’m doing and how I might focus/direct what I do in the future. I’m thinking of ways to ensure there’s some regular ‘pause and reflection’ to me keep on track, or review where I’m headed. I feel quite supported by these activities (even though they might not always be a one to one interaction – although this response is ;-)) and appreciate being involved early on in my blogging efforts.
@ Michele, Your comment abut Sue made me realise that the amount of response/reaction you get, will be proportionate to the level of input/contribution you provide. And what’s in in for me? – just as you suggest – professional development and hopefully becoming better at what I’m doing, which will enable me to pass on what I learn/know to others.
@Michele Thanks for the nice words. Commenting is an important part of my daily routine for two reasons. 1) It’s important for my personal learning – my learning is far greater when I comment and engage in conversations as opposed to writing just blog posts. Commenting makes you reflect more on the topics than just writing posts alone. 2) I’ve had so many people support, mentor and guide me over the years; this is my way of paying it back by providing the same support to others, especially new bloggers.
Colin,
You said “I hope that through my commenting I might also challenge and encourage others on their learning journeys.”
I share the same feeling of encouraging others. By blogging and commenting, we are contributing to this learning community in the blogosphere, we are giving back what we learned from others. We are reflecting, mixing and remixing concepts and ideas out there, and stimulating others to join us. The Comment Challenge has just opened our eyes on effective ways to achieve that.
I agree Carla, for me the ‘challenge’ has been about becoming aware of how my/our contributions are able to enhance the conversations. I think it’s great that we’ve all been on this learning journey and the participants are all deeply indebted to the organisers of the challenge,