Thing #4

Blogs create a place for people with similar interests to come together and discuss ideas and thoughts. Commenting helps foster that sense of community because it allows people to interact with each other by sharing their ideas, opinions, and concerns. It allows people to become part of a global conversation on whatever topic interests them. People have a need to voice their opinions and let their concerns be known and being part of a blogging community gives them an outlet to use that puts them in contact with other like-minded individuals.

One thing I found interesting on the “10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog” blog was the opening statistic which stated: “90% of online community users are lurkers with only 9 % of users contributing ‘a little’ and 1 % actively contributing.”  I believe I definitely fall into the lurker category because I hardly ever leave a comment on anything that I read online. But after reading some of the reasons explaining the importance of commenting, I may change that. For example, the writer on the “Cool Cat Teacher Blog” pointed out that when you comment you are in a sense casting your vote on the importance of a topic. If you want the blogger to address a certain topic in more detail or more frequently, leaving a comment helps the writer know what they should focus on.

Another point in the reading material I found interesting was the importance of responding to the comments that people may leave on your blog. I never really thought about this before, but it makes sense. Not taking the time to interact with your readers kind of defeats the purpose of a blog. Like the “Blue Skunk Blog” points out, by writing in such a public forum bloggers want their writings to be read by others, if they didn’t they would choose to write in a notebook that only they could read. So not only is just polite to respond to commenters, but it also fosters relationships between the readers and the writers of blogs.

The seven blogs I chose to follow and comment on are as follows:

Kasey Howe – I chose to follow her blog because she already teaches history which is what I want to teach, so I am interested in her insights.

Comment posted: “I love your ‘blog pals’ idea. I think that’s a great way to connect students from all over the world to gain new perspectives on various cultures and historical events. In middle school, I had a pen pal in Japan and it was a fun experience to connect with someone from another culture and read her letters describing her interests and way of life.”

Gina Avant – I chose to follow her blog because we sit next to each other and class and help each other a lot.  

Comment posted: “Your avatar is really fun and a great representation of you!”

Bailey Cheben – I really enjoyed her Flickr post.

Comment posted: “St. Peter’s Cathedral is a beautiful place and seeing Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in person is an awe-inspiring experience. It is amazing how a photo can bring back so many memories and feelings.”

Trish Watanbe – Her blog posts are fun and insightful.

Comment posted: “I think you make a valid point about relying on technology too much. Kids are surrounded with so much technology now days that they may be losing certain skills such as using their imaginations and knowing how to interact with others.”

Bianca McDowell – We seem to have similar views on things.

Comment posted: “I was thinking the same thing when I started my blog about Blogger being very similar to MySpace. It did bring back memories of going online and finding those HTML code backgrounds to put on your page.”

The two other blogs outside of class I have chosen to follow are the “World History Teachers Blog” (http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com/) and “The History Teacher’s Attic” (http://www.historyteachersattic.com/) - These blogs are written by high school history teachers so I think they will give me some good insights and ideas to use in my future classroom.