The On-line ID and the Ego:Preparing a Personality for the Blogosphere

• Let's talk ego!What face do you present to the world?

• What is your potential Online ID?Who can you become?

• Blogging tips, tricks and trapsWhat to do, and what not to do, and potential issues: Some examples of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

• Cool Digital Tools: A quick dip into the technological gene pool (tools, add-ons, and techniques)

Agenda

Let's Talk Ego!

• Personal

• Political

• Corporate

• Educational

We're not talking types of blogs here . . .

• Our concept of self has changed• Modern - some would argue post-modern - lifestyles

have created contingent selves• Hence, the popularity of blogging as someone - or

something - else• Your experiences

• Your perception of your experiences• Others' perception of your experiences

• Your friends• Colleagues• Students• Hey, we all have a bit of Walter Mitty in us, don't we?

What sources can you draw from?

What is your Potential Online ID?

Some IDs• Technorati (www.technorati.com)

Currently tracking around 100 million blog IDs• Boing boing (www.boingboing.net):

The CNN/Fox news for blogging• Slashdot (www.slashdot.org)

The site that makes techie nerds look cool? • ars technica (http://arstechnica.com)

Technology blog• Fark (www.fark.com)

A bunch of irreverent IDs all talking to each other

More IDs• I, Cringley (www.pbs.org/cringely)

Technology meets the X Files and Lost• John C. Dvorak (http://www.dvorak.org/blog/)

Technologists becomes politician?• Fark (www.fark.com)

But are these sites really community oriented?A blog is important if – and only if – it reflects a community.

Even more!• Robert Scoble “spokesblogger” for Microsoft, and

goes by the name of “scobleizer” http://scobleizer.com/ http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/

• Jon Garfunkel http://civilities.net/people/JonGarfunkel

• The creators/curators of BoingBoing:– Cory Doctorow (www.craphound.com)– Mark Frauenfelder (http://boingboing.net/markf.html)– Xeni Jardin (www.xeni.net)– David Pescovitz (http://pesco.net)

• Daily KOS (www.dailykos.com)• Tom Coates (www.plasticbag.org)

Make it stop!

Blogging Tips, Tricks and Traps

Where to start?

Steps

• Determine the ID you want.• Create an account.• Learn the interface specific to the

service you've chosen.• Log in and start writing!• Get a bit intimidated.• Re-read this PowerPoint

presentation.• Call or e-mail James or someone

else you know for some pointers• Log on and write again• Lather, rinse, repeat!

Blog sites

• BlogSpot (http://www.blogger.com)• Wordpress (www.wordpress.com)• LiveJournal (www.livejournal.com)• Xanga (www.xanga.com)• Jeeran (www.jeeran.com)• MySpace (www.myspace.com)

I can tell you guys don't care about theory. You want to get started. Here you go!

Blogging tips and tricks

Tricks

• Write as if you were someone in your target audience

• Create your own blog on a third-party site (e.g., Wordpress) and get the word out

• Get a student to write in a blog. Then use that student as an example.

• Start small – have students help each other, or even help you get started.

Tips

• Target an audience• Make the topic relevant to you• Use clear headlines.• Create a biography – people want

to know if you represent them.• Don't think you need to get it right

the first time. Draft. • Employ referential writing: Link to

other sites and blogs.• Follow the same rules as news

copy or e-zines.

As you teach students, make sure to keep in mind that they feel they're experts in this area. Even if they aren't.

• Good writing is honest writing:– Write about what you know– Write about what excites you– Write for an audience you know about– Be informative, but also leave them wanting more

• Good blogging involves a bit of . . . exaggeration– Get “out on the tiles” a bit– Adopt an honest perspective, but also one that is a bit different

Additional Tips from the Ego

Potential traps• I'm not all that interesting• I absolutely have to adopt an edgy ego

Avoiding traps• Writing tips:

– http://website101.com/RSS-Blogs-Blogging/blog-writing-tips.html

– http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/454-why-most-copywriting-on-the-web-sucks

• Write clearly• Focus on the reader – but keep your ID!

• List of mistakes and good moves:– http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html

• Don't provide an author photo: Why?• Make titles interesting• Focus on one topic at times: Be obsessive

Long-term blogging tips• Create an unfolding story. A “Neverending story.”

Create a long-term narrative.• Network with other people. Remember – blogging is

social networking with a community.• Persistence will get you readers.• Conduct a linking campaign.• Publish regularly – not necessarily often, but regularly.• Be careful – a little slip could end up getting you in hot

water. Either with your current boss, or your future one.

Long-term blogging tips (continued)

• Focus on your community – your audience. • What do they want? •Write about your passion, and you'll get an audience

Real-world Examples

Real-world? Real ID?

• http://www.boingboing.net

The “real” Dvorak?

• http://dvorak.org/shortbio.htm

Dvorak Unhinged!

• www.dvorak.org/blog/

Scoble: Mr. Corporate!

• http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/technology/1705/beneath-great-user-experiences

Scoble the scoundrel?

• http://scobleizer.com/

Education blogs (continued)

• http://elgg.educationbridges.net/leeb/weblog/

Education blogs (continued)

• http://clive-shepherd.blogspot.com/

Education blogs (continued)

• http://www.eduwonk.com/index.html

Education blogs (continued)

• http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/

Anything Zeppelin . . .

• http://ssedro.blogspot.com/

Some Education Blog URLs• Teachers Teaching Teachers:

http://teachersteachingteachers.org/• Teach and Learn:

http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/• Cool Cat Teacher:

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/• EduBlog Awards:

http://edublogawards.com/ • Top 100 blogs:

http://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs• A Teacher's Life

http://elemenous.typepad.com/weblog/• Students 2.0:

http://students2oh.org/

Getting Your ID online

Open Source Digital Tools

• OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org)• Bittorent (www.bittorrent.com)• Kompozer (http://kompozer.net)• Amaya (www.w3.org/Amaya)• Firefox add-ons:

(https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox)• Mozilla products – Firefox, Thunderbird, etc. –

(www.mozilla.org)• Chrome (www.google.com/chrome)

Add-ons: Not just for kids• Web developer: Allows you to edit, monitor, validate

and debug XHTML, HTML, and even JavaScript live on a page saved locally to your hard disk. Who needs Adobe?

• Firebug: Code debugger and investigator.• ColorZilla: If you want to manipulate colors and ease

color-related tasks on a page you are developing, this is the tool to use.

• DOM Inspector: Used to inspect the Document Object Model (DOM) of a Web or page. You can also edit the documents directly (on the local system, of course). A

• Total Validator: Sophisticated HTML validation.• Image Zoom: Allows you to zoom in on images.

Add-ons: Not just for code geeks• ScribeFire Blog Editor: Supports most of the major

blogging services (e.g., Drupal, WordPress, LiveJournal). Who needs to learn that much code to blog?

• BlogRovR: A good blogger reads other bloggers. This application automatically grabs content and shows summaries. By the way, how many times can I use blogger in the same PowerPoint slide?

Additional applications and services

• Google Analytics: It's free as in beer, and shows you what sites and what key words are providing you traffic. Plus, you get to read cool graphs that show you how well you're doing

• Twitter: For those who feel that brevity is the soul of twitter

• Trackbacks: Less of a service than the ability for a you to be automatically notified when someone links to your blog. Also called “linkback.” Several different types of linkbacks exist. Google and other sites respect trackbacks, which can cause your blogging ID to be better known

Additional applications and services (continued)

• Audacity: Want to create a podcast? It's free and works on any platform

• Skype: Want to do a remote podcast? Why worry about taping a phone conversation – Monica Lewinski is old news!

• The Gimp: Want to give a face to your ID? Why buy Photoshop?

Common Server Platforms

Things to consider

• If you're interested in just doing a bit of blogging, just go with an online service!

• If you want to engage students and have them blog, you might want to install your own service

• CIWcommunity.org uses Drupal, for example. Very powerful.

Content Management/Blogging

• Joomla (www.joomla.org)• Drupal (www.drupal.org)• Liferay (www.liferay.com)• Mambo (www.mamboserver.com)• Movable Type

(www.movabletype.com)

Don't let the names dissuade you; these are powerful platforms.

Why not do it yourself?• Let's create a podcast

– Audacity– Topic? Choosing an ID

• Create an account at WordPresss