Print
EmailBeing a blog enthusiast I keep thinking about the way I personally use blogs and their potential uses. As mentioned in my first post, I have been primarily using blogs as a way to organize and focus my classes thus the audience has been captive and limited. With the TESOL blog I am venturing into the more typical blogosphere with a potentially unlimited audience. One of my concerns when I began posting for TESOL was capturing an audience. To date that audience (or perhaps the readers who are inclined to leave a comment) has not materialized which leaves me feeling like I am delivering a monologue. I will have to explore ways to get readers (and active commenters) to the blog. Without an active dialogue the blog becomes quite static. I anticipated relying on the audience to steer me to my next topic. Perhaps it’s just the summer and like me many potential readers are far from their desks. As one of my summer projects involves launching a community based blog project for the arts, readership will definitely be a puzzle I will have to solve.
TESOL English Language Bulletin- Social-Emotional Learning and the Middle School Student 27 March 2023
- Teachers in India to Receive TESOL English Teaching Credential 27 March 2023
- Peer review in multilingual classes 27 March 2023
- TESOL Announces Professional Development for Honduran English Teachers 27 March 2023
- A dual immersion program that's unique — and seeing academic returns 27 March 2023
Advertisement
Hi Lydia
What captured my attention is your vast experienece. This is my first time participating in any blog, but it seems that it might just be worthwhile. The reson I am participating is actually because of my masters study requirements. I am looking forward to be part of the topics that may arise. Sharing your experience will definitely be enlgihtening
Arie,
Thanks for venturing forth and commenting. You will soon discover that you are a rare breed. It would be interesting to know what keeps most blog readers from commenting. Perhaps readers need a push such as your masters project to get started. I would be interested in knowing exactly what your masters study requirements are and how they tie in with leaving comments on a blog. Thanks for your feedback!
Hi Lydia,
It’s very common to not receive comments on a blog. I’ve been dealing with this since 2009 with Blogging4Broke, http://blog.brokebutnotforlong.org/, which receives 5000 visitors a month but no comments. Part of the problem is ease of access. My two blogs are on WordPress and they just recently added the option to login with your twitter or facebook account. The average individual doesn’t want to have to login and provide data all over the Internet. I even allowed comments without login and have received very little feedback.
For my teaching blog, http://teacherrogers.wordpress.com/, I’ve decided to transfer it to Google’s Blogger or the WordPress Edubloggers hosts. Both of these allow more plugins/widgets and you can actually see your followers with these (little pictures). For example, if you create a Blogger blog, the you will have folks sign in simply with their gmail accounts. Edubloggers, on the other hand, is specifically for teachers. Teachers respond to other teachers. My current teacher blog receives VERY little comments on the general WordPress host.
Sandra,
Thanks for the very focused feedback. You have many very valid points. “Ease of access” certainly is one of them. It seems that everything is becoming interconnected with Facebook and Twitter, not to mention Google+. I believe the interconnectivity will be a good thing. I also like your comment about not receiving any feedback. It has been my experience in cyberspace that most people are ‘viewers’ (dare I say ‘lurkers’?) but few venture forth to leave comments. As I am experimenting with both teaching and non-teaching blogs I’ll have to take many things into consideration. Thanks for your insights!
I apprieciate your enthusiasm in blogging and I do believe it is a very nice way of capturing your audience. I am , however, a lazy blogger, as I just post mainly my reflective diaries instead of blogging with a fixed purpose. My idea is that I need to see myself from different perspectives. If I just buried myself in teaching, I would get lost. If the readers are really interested in my articles, that might mean they might also find something in common, and then they might automatically give some comments. I believe those who can comment on my reflective diaries can steer me to the next topic, even if they just say a few words.
Kathy,
I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the diary aspect of blogging. That is what I feel when I blog for my classes. I do get feedback from the class, but my own entries keep me focused. You are probably also correct when you mention that like-minded readers might respond to your posts. But it can be difficult trying to figure out who is actually reading your posts, especially when little feedback is forthcoming! Thanks for your feedback!