Don't stop blogging

[Eduardo Peirano]

I'm tired of asking good online friends to continue blogging and/or to network via delicious. Any help?

[Joshua Yeidel]

A colleague of mine said today "Blogging is too much work. That's why I like Twitter. 140 characters and you're done."

Twitter may be getting bad press due to oversharing, but it could be a good way to keep in touch. For example, if you see a tweet like "Finished library search on social networks", you might respond with "Find anything worth blogging?"

[Disclaimer: not a Tweeter myself.]

[Eduardo Peirano]

Thank you Joshua for you reply. Steve Matthews , Law Firm Web Strategy Blog posted, and I agree with him:
"Twitter without a blog is just playing around. If you are using social media to participate and build a reputation, you need to back it up with some substance. And though some may disagree, my take is that substance frequently requires more that 140 characters"

[Cheri MacLeod]

It's hard for people to blog regularly just as it is hard to speak in front of a group unless you feel confident that you have something worthwhile to say. Rather than urge people to blog on it might help them more if you ask them a question that they feel compelled to think about and then write back about or put in their blog. A well-placed question keeps a conversation going because it gives the 'speaker' a focus.

Delicious - not sure why you like it so much. I know it's popular but I don't understand its appeal. What is it about delicious that you like and how do you use it?

[Eduardo Peirano]

Cheri, yes asking good questions would motivate others to think, reflect, answer, post. I was never good asking good questions.

Delicious:
- already saved 3,500 bookmarks
- bookmarks are tagged
- bookmarks available online
- share bookmarks with others, making me useful to members of my network
- my Delicious network, emapey's Network on Delicious
- Delicious Network finds great bookmarks for me

I hope that these posts help you understand Delicious features:
Use Del.icio.us to Create Your Eportfolio
My Favorite Feed Reader is My Del.icio.us Network
Networking With Del.icio.us in Education
Del.icio.us Networking Features

[Steve Mackenzie]

Hi Eduardo,

I think that also by linking the bookmarks of your delicious network to an RSS feed Reader, you can constantly and in the most easiest fashion be supplied with an abundance of good material that can help inspire you to blog. delicious brings to your attention numerous items of interest that you did even know you was interested in :-)

[Britt Watwood]

I was drawn to Malcolm Gladwell's book OUTLIERS this past Christmas, where he noted that "experts" in what ever field tended to have at least 10,000 hours developing their craft. I see similarities to our craft. It is not Twitter OR blogging OR delicious, but rather Twitter AND blogging AND delicious AND Facebook AND... that gives the critical mass of hours in social media where it all begins to make sense. Most people never become experts because most people do not persist.

[Eduardo Peirano]

Britt, great quote from Malcolm Gladwell's book. I agree with you. Blogging or Delicious are also not enough. I would also contact a friend when he/she stops using Twitter. For example I have a friend that blogs, created a Ning community, uses Delicious but I failed to convince her to use Twitter. Its the same problem. I only started this thread because too many friends seem to have stopped blogging lately.

I tried to explain it on my post Save and Share Bookmarks, Start Blogging and Only Then Use Twitter .... I should have also added "Join Communities and Groups"

[Steve Mackenzie]

Absolutely agree Britt. i draw the same conclusions in the areas of exercise and diet - commitment is required and a degree of hard work. just as the phrase lifestyle change is associated with exercise and diet, a similar change in mentality is required to embrace the benefits of social media.

[Eduardo Peirano]

You can read more about Malcolm Gladwell's book OUTLIERS and the 10,000 hours to get really good at something:
- Ten Thousand—10,000—Hours to Success! The Awesome Power of Passion,...
- Outliers, 10,000 hours and the Generation ‘Z’ | thesquigglyline.com
- 10,000 Hours? Really? | Blog | Lou Schuler
-

[Maru del Campo]

Hello!

I hear you, I'm not a blogger fan myself. I used to blog for myself and during CCK08 I had to blog. My situation is that I sense I have a few readers and I cannot go back to my previous "diary" style. I didn't want to add a visitor counter then and now I'm being pulled to install Google Analytics.

However, I found in Twitter a Torley Linden's link to Live Writter. It was my life jacket vest during the course. I used it with Blogger and it made my blogging more fun and enjoyable. I tried to add my Edublog and it proved to be difficult but I know it can be done. It seems Word Press works fine with it but this is nor first hand advice.
I invite you to give it a try. It ended up being a long reply so if you're in a hurry please skip it.

I resonate soundly with Britt. Too many hours, too many social sites to visit to cope plus very little time to do so.
Ning came up with a site that let's you "read" and be aware of what's going on in your Nings but to participate in them is time consuming. Pity is limited to Ning creators if I'm not mistaken.

Another hindrance that I've found is that if you are a project tracker like me, some Ning blogs do not have RSS feeds to access them and track them using tools like Dipty's Timeline. I can track the forum or videos or something else but not my blogs inside some Nings so I end up abandoning them. Which comes at times as a relief! LOL If I cannot cope with one blog and Nings I fail to imagine myself updating all my Ning blogs unless as a nightmare.

Regarding Del.icio.us: I used it nicely today after I widened my network (Eduardo had a lot to do in the matter) to promote my Guardian Angels sites. With a few clicks! I've found more sense to form groups and share my links to a group that is surfing the same subject at the same time, this is accomplished easily with specific tags.
Nevertheless, I don't' think I'll be reading and visiting my network's tagged sites. I don't even go back to check my own tagged sites, I dream about organizing them better. I mark them thinking that I'll go back during the day but I never find the time to do so. Moreover, I've bookmarked 1015 sites while counting my whole network's links, the number increases to 35392 bookmarked sites. Sorry Eduardo, that fact gives me the creeps. I'm old fashioned, I feel I have to read the complete posts; otherwise I feel I'm being rude.

Sorry for the long reply.
Enjoy your Easter Holidays!

[Eduardo Peirano]

Maru, I even update my old blog posts. I try to make them better and add new links to them as I continue learning and finding new information. I am not alone Blog Post Updates - Effective Pattern? : eLearning Technology