injenuity

As I journey deeper into this blogging adventure, I discover more and more that I have barely scratched the surface of what it means to be a blogger.  When blogging is described to people for the first time, it is often compared to journaling, or simply keeping a log.  I am guilty of giving this description to instructors all the time to try and simplify it.  I am now questioning this approach, but searching for a better metaphor.

Last week I learned some new things while reading Alan Levine’s post about his week of blog abstinence.  A large part of the blogging experience is responding to and supporting other bloggers.  While I do respond to posts on many blogs, when I have time, I don’t do it with intention, nor do I have a system for determining where I respond.  I usually just skim the headlines in my reader and open the interesting ones, responding if I have input.

Another realization is that I don’t feel worthy to post on some blogs!  I guess I have reservations about responding to experts when I feel like such a novice.  I have been concerned my content wouldn’t add to the conversation.  I also have not taken advantage of the community-building side of blogging. I only recently discovered the meaning of linkbacks.  I had no clue what those links were for on my dashboard.  I never really understood how people list blogging in their toolbox of community-building applications.

Now that I am learning more about the true spirit of blogging, I am even more excited to attend Northern Voice.  I learned of the conference last year when I posted a question on Twitter asking about the best conferences for Higher Ed.  The content wasn’t really something I felt an urgent need to absorb, but the attendee list quickly grabbed my attention.  I registered with a goal of meeting my network heroes and learning a little about blogging so I could bring the information back to my faculty.  Now I feel my own desire to become a “real” blogger and my enthusiasm for the event is growing.  I hope to meet you there!

Footnote: To find the link to Alan’s blog, I decided to go through http://profilactic.com, which we both signed up for in the last few days.  I’m trying to determine how useful it will be.   For this example, it probably wasn’t the best way to look up his blog post. However, I did enjoy being able to quickly see what he’s been up to in the time since he posted that message.  I think the service is useful for following people who publish a great deal of web content, but don’t have time to publicize it all.  I will keep an eye on it.  Feel free to add me as a friend if you sign up.