Blogging and Writing for the Web

This course will become read-only in the near future. Tell us at community.p2pu.org if that is a problem.

Task Navigation 

General #1: Introduce Yourself

  • Introduce yourself to everyone in the group.
  • Let us know what you want to blog about.
  • How can we help you?

Task Discussion


  • Spainchic   Oct. 10, 2011, 8:41 a.m.

    Hi,

    My name is Cinthya Abad. I'm from Madrid, Spain but currently living in Manchester. I graduated last year from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a degree in Business Management. I felt a little lost in life after graduation in not knowing what to do in life. The thing I know for certain is that I enjoy traveling. i went back to my hometwon Madrid for a few months with no luck in finding a job and decided to move to the United Kingdom.

    So now I am currently doing an internship in Digital Marketing with a start up company named Tangerine Snap. Since is a small company I feel that I can learn more and get the skills necessary to find a good job. I really enjoy writing and would love to get more in depth into blogging. I started my own blog where I post my internship progress and a little bit of what we do each day. http://tangerinesnapsnap.blogspot.com/

    I would love to get more into business blogging but I would also like to write about my experiences traveling.

  • Dan   Oct. 2, 2011, 9:10 a.m.

     

    Hi. My name is Daniel and I am a student. I like to read and write as well as spend time with friends and family. 
     
    I want to blog about all sorts of things. From reviews to spirituality, to special interest topics -- in other words I do not have a single focus for my blog. I do not know if this is a good thing or will be the death of my blog!
     
    I can be helped by critical feedback, people taking the time to point out what they like and what they don't like, whether my topics held their attention or not, and whatever feedback I can get. I feel that's vague but feedback is important I feel.
     
    Oh, and here is my blog. It needs to be renamed I think.
     
    Dan
  • Glòria   Sept. 25, 2011, 9:59 a.m.

    Hi everyone,

    My name's Glòria and I used to blog about my personal interests, but I left it because I thought none could be interested in what I wrote. You can see my writings on my blog and on my Twitter profiles as @glaireOops (personal profile) and @GloriaConsola (professional profile).

    I'm from Barcelona, so my native languages are Catalan and Spanish and I used to post in both languages, even in English, but not very often.

    I'm also working as Online Content Manager in an advertising agency, so I write for many clients almost every day.

    I'm here to learn what I'm not doing well and what I can improve. I'd like to share what I know and get ideas from the other participants.

  • Nicola Hughes   Aug. 22, 2011, 2:35 p.m.

    Hi

    My name is Nicola Hughes and I blog about Data Journalism under the alias DataMinerUK. Here is my wordpress blog. And I'm @DataMinerUK on twitter.

    I'm looking for tools to mine the web for stories in data, the pursuit of facts in plain sight. I use my blog as a semantic sink to attract people looking into this area of journalism and in that way I learn from them. Once I've gathered an arsenel of data mining tools I need to learn to use them. Then I'll combine them to mine the web for stories using new and old meida tactics. That's the plan.

    Right now I'm learning to code in Python.

    I'd love to hear your words of advice even if you're not interested in Data Journalism.

  • Stefanie   Aug. 5, 2011, 6:42 a.m.

    Hey ya'll!

    My name is Stefanie. I live in Ulm, Southern Germany. My native language is German and for work purposes I have a German blog. However, I also contribute to an English group blog called Educational Technology and Change Journal.

    http://etcjournal.com/

    At ETC-J, I am editor of social software. That means my focus is on online communities, social media and open learning environments.

    I hope to be able to derive new material from this class and also to discuss some "meta-issues" about blogging - like "what is quality / success - many posts, many views, many comments, many  contributors - or mere joy of writing?"

    Best,

    Stefanie

  • AJC   July 12, 2011, 9:25 a.m.

    Hey everyone! Now that Pippa's back I'm going to join in too. I have a blog that is pitifully underpopulated with entries. I often go to write, but am quickly consumed with self-doubt. "Why would anyone want to read this?". 

    You can see my lack on writing here: http://grungefarmer.org

     

  • Wanderman   Aug. 5, 2011, 6:41 a.m.
    In Reply To:   AJC   July 12, 2011, 9:25 a.m.

    I like your blog :)

  • Anonym   Sept. 25, 2011, 11:25 p.m.
    In Reply To:   AJC   July 12, 2011, 9:25 a.m.

    I like your blog too! I wish I had that talent or ideas to write.

  • Robh   July 5, 2011, 12:10 p.m.

    Hi,

    My name is Roberth and I'm from Uddevalla in Sweden. I'm a designer/photographer.

    Right now I have about 3 ideas for blogs. Yea, I always have a lot of ideas in my mind that I really want to make a reality. But out of 100 ideas there might be 1 really good. But you won't find that good one if you didn't have the other 99.

    I want to blog about floorball and news about that sport from all over the world.
    I also want to have a photo blog for my personal photos and showcase them.
    And last I want to wright about me and my soon to be wife's trips around the world.

    The way I thought that this course could help me is how to write good. As I sad earlier, I'm mainly into visual stuff, not writing. So I want to learn and get better at that and found that this course could be very helpfull for that.

  • Wanderman   Aug. 5, 2011, 6:56 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Robh   July 5, 2011, 12:10 p.m.

    We share common ideas, except for the sports part :) I used to have a photo blog years ago but failed to main entries. And each of my posts were only title and the photos. They say picture is worth a thousand words, true, but I suggest you tell story behind the subject/photo as so readers get a personal feel from the photographer. I wish I did this in the past. =/

    And as for travelling, I would love to have my own as well. I've been reading quite some travel blogs, especially the vagabonds' and the frugals'. I'd like to see your's and hopefully you can share your tips (setup, maintaining) in future. Good luck! :)

  • Anonym   July 3, 2011, 8:42 p.m.

    Hello Everyone,

    Like some others, I'm yet to find time to really get active on here but the first place to start is introducing myself. My name Austin and I'm from Adelaide, South Australia and I'm 21 years old.

    I am passionate about web and graphic design, i would love to learn the art of blogging but feel it requires more time than I can offer it. I have a couple of websites with the hope of getting more.

    I have my personal site which is www.austinswindley.com and also I'm starting up a short story and fan-fiction community, www.fantalez.com . The idea behind Fantalez is to encourage people to read, rate, write and share stories they have written.

    Neither site is finished yet but I hope to dedicate some time on them in the near future.

    At this stage im not sure what i want to blog about, as broad fields I'd say web design, tutorials perhaps.

    Until I know what I want to blog about I can't really state how I can be helped, just feedback really when the time comes.

    Really looking forward to learning a great deal from P2PU.

  • Pippa Buchanan   July 4, 2011, 7:55 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Anonym   July 3, 2011, 8:42 p.m.

    Hey Austin,

    I'm originally from Adelaide and am just coming to the end of spending some time back here before I fly back to Austria tomorrow.

    btw, if you start writing web design tutorials we'd love to recommend them to School of Webcraft participants.

     

    P*

  • Stefanie   Aug. 5, 2011, 6:45 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Anonym   July 3, 2011, 8:42 p.m.

    Hello Austin,

    can you tell me a little more about your facfiction site? What was the motive to start your own community rather than using fanfiction.net?

    Best,
    Stefanie

  • Anonym   Nov. 8, 2011, 10:08 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Stefanie   Aug. 5, 2011, 6:45 a.m.

    Hi Stefanie,

    ...now that im done and married and hopefully settling back into things abit I can try and find some time to work on things...

    My motive was a few mates and I from school all loved writing stories and due to leaving school and other life committments none of us have done any since school. We have a private group on facebook for just us and one day someone mentioned the idea of writing again and I had been thinking about writing again for sometime but nothing come of it so i suggested if i get a website up would people start writing and post them on there to be read, rated, inspire others. They all said yes but so far not much content has blessed the site.

    Also, I just want more experience with WordPress :)

     

    Sorry it's been a few months since you replied but life has ways of keeping us away, thanks for your interest in my site :)

  • Throckmorton Q. Dirktwister   July 3, 2011, 3:27 p.m.

    Hi, everybody!

    I am Throckmorton Q. Dirktwister, and I am a wannabe blogger. Well, you could almost say I am a has-been blogger, but that was back when blogging was something different.

    I had accounts on DiaryLand.com and Xanga.com, and I updated those frequently. It was all mostly personal, what-did-i-do-today stuff, and those were the pre-facebook days. Quite a few people who read my posts said they really liked it, so that tells me that i am a decent writer. I also enjoy doing it.

    I really would like to get back into it but with a more focused approach, because now is the time that blogs are taken more seriously by the media, thus there is a chance of money being in it. I know that sounds greedy, but we humans all crave monetary compensation at the heart. Anyway, i started a technical blog back in January in which I plan to write software reviews, computer tutorials and a little bit of the miscellaneous stuff that fall under the Technology category somewhat. I have made a few posts, but I just kinda stopped. Writing takes effort, and as busy of a guy as I am, I find myself using my spare time to relax, more than anything. I was able to spend so much time blogging back in the day because I was in college and had much more time. Ah, the good old days!

    Anyway, blogging did and does bring me much joy, and I think my tech blog idea has some potential, so I would like not to quit. I think if i was party of a group, such as this, where I am in the company of other writers who are willing to help criticizes my posts and offer tips, tricks and ideas, it would be easier for me to devote time to it.

    Thanks, and I look forward to our collaboration!

  • Wanderman   June 27, 2011, 10:35 a.m.

    Hello guys ;)

    I yet have time to actively participate here but I'm really looking forward to it. Let me start by introducing myself, the least I can do for now. I'm Zerrick and I like to say I'm an imaginative designer, simply because I like to visualize things and create mind's art in my own little world. Weird I know but I love it. =D

    Professionally I'm a graphic designer and photographer, mainly food, but I'd like to extend my skills. Writing is what I least like in terms of creative ways of expressing myself, especially the block. I figured I need to improve my attention span. And I'm here hoping to get to talk to you guys of your experiences, tips and writing in general.

    Me and a friend are working on a party website, KLshots.com. I'm interested in writing reviews for clubs event and parties around my city. As a total noob that I am, I appreciate any feedback, comments etc once I start writing for this website. Will keep you all updated.

    Thanks! :)

  • Z_im   June 22, 2011, 8:08 p.m.

    Allow me to introduce myself. I am 30 years old. I have traveled all over the U.S. in my many years...Many of these years I was a computer tech. These days it's handier to know how to fix a computer, because almost everyone has at least one they need fixing. I have studied web. dev. on/off as a way of advertising for many years now, and have sold several things on different on-line stores.  My blogs are mostlyt about what I am doing with my computers, and the software that makes them sing. You will probably hear alot about the freedome to download, the freedome to look @ and modify the source code-even improve upon it(w/ the responsibility to pass on improvements to the community), The freedom of choice of what you want to do and how you want it to look....Sure their's a Learning curve, but the price sure is right~!!!

    Kevin James Lausen

    AKA

    Zim the Urken invader...

  • Jayms Ampersand   June 16, 2011, 10:50 a.m.

    Morning everyone,

    I've written since I was a little human bean at eleven years old but I've recently decided to shift focus from creative writing to blogging. My personal blog, recently started, is http://jaymsampersand.wordpress.com.

    I have several other social media ventures that you can track down at my portal, http://dooid.com/jaymsampersand. You'll find links to my YouTube channel and my Twitter among others.

    I like to write on entertainment and lifestyle, and though I currently take to my own small blog to carry this out, I'd like to start a team of bloggers dedicated to that same topic. About ten of us, one or two volunteer articles a week. Commitment required. You know, the usual.

    Excuse me as I'm late for my morning coffee and I can feel the headache setting in.

    Thank you(:

    Jayms

  • Wanderman   June 27, 2011, 10:38 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Jayms Ampersand   June 16, 2011, 10:50 a.m.

    I like to write on entertainment and lifestyle, and though I currently take to my own small blog to carry this out, I'd like to start a team of bloggers dedicated to that same topic. About ten of us, one or two volunteer articles a week. Commitment required. You know, the usual.

    Very interesting. I'd like to see it grow with more bloggers and content. ;) Good luck!

  • nzeribe   May 20, 2011, 5:22 p.m.

    H! My name's Ikem. I'm a junior web developer and photographer based in Manchester, England. I love the idea that P2PU can move in directions that are creative and expressive and can complement it's technical base. Blogging is the perfect marriage and suits me well, so I'm excited to be a part of it. 

    My blog is called The Naughty Index.

    Sometime in the 1990s, Marc Rivière - photographer, auteur - wandered the streets of Paris, camera in hand, asking complete strangers if they would show him their breasts in the spirit of art and liberté. The results are compiled in his wonderful book, "Up & Down". My question is this: can it be recreated in post-industrial, highly creative, slightly depressive Manchester? It's a compelling idea and I'm on a quest to find out.

    Reading people's blogs and publishing your own are different animals. It is in part, for me, a question of confidence and the just getting started that is difficult. Finding my voice is another issue. Like singing to myself in the bathroom, I have no real idea what I actually sound like. I hope meeting, talking and working through our ideas in a supportive peer group can help me get there, and I am keen to contribute as much as I can.

  • Alina Mierlus   May 13, 2011, 9:53 a.m.

    Hey everyone,

      My name is Alina. I live in Barcelona. I love working with communities. Currently I'm contributing on a series of projects, mostly on community engagement and social marketing.: Mozilla Project and Drumbeat, Global/Local Melt , Softcatalà and lately with Design Jams initiative and local UX/HCI communities.

      This is my personal blog - where I usually write about projects I'm working on (in English, Catalan or Spanish). Sometimes I write on Mozilla local blogs (mozilla.cat - Catalan and mozilla.ro - Romanian).

      One of the things I'm challenging now: "In which language I should write this?"

  • Jessica Ledbetter   April 27, 2011, 3:05 p.m.

    Hello everyone! My name is Jessica and I'm a web developer for a government lab in Virginia. I also do a little hacking on a couple of open source projects.

    I have a couple of blogs. Both are not updated as often as they could (should?) be. It's so easy to take a picture and post it to flickr or post a Facebook status update about a neat new project.

    • jessica.wordpress.com - posts about cooking, food, and vegetarianism mostly. Sometimes a post will slip through about how I wish I enjoyed gardening :)
    • jessicaledbetter.com - posts that are about programming, open source, design, and such. 

    How can I be helped is a good question. I enjoy reading others' blogs and have been saved many times from someone's post on how to fix weird bug. There are a billion vegetarian blogs so I don't feel as guilty about not updating that. However, I feel that I should update jessicaledbetter.com more or else. (Or else what? I don't know.)

    What makes a good blog post? How do I get into a schedule of posting? How short can a post be to be worthwhile? Is it alright to combine areas together? For example, should I post a photo of my latest oil painting to jessica.wordpress.com or jessicaledbetter.com? How do I get over the fear of saying something wrong? Not so much with cooking but more with technical posts.

  • Pippa Buchanan   April 27, 2011, 12:27 p.m.

    Hi,  I'm Pippa. I'm an Australian woman who recently moved from Berlin, Germany to Linz, in Austria.

    I wanted to create and participate in this group because I (used to) blog for fun and I also have to blog as part of my work responsibilities working for the School of Webcraft. 

    My personal blog (battlecat.net) is where I've written about life, gardening, food, work, love, making things and mental health for the last decade (!). My commitment to personal blogging has suffered as a result of "weird people" on the web, working out my privacy boundaries and feeling guilty about personal blogging when I find it challenging to blog as part of my professional life. I'd like to use this group to discuss some of these issues.

    My more formal blog (http://learninglearning.wordpress.com) is where I post about learning specific topics and the School of Webcraft. As part of my work contract I'm required to regularly blog, but I inevitably put off writing these blog posts. While my writing itself isn't bad, I feel worried about misrepresenting the organisation, find it difficult to find images to illustrate my entries and find it challenging to focus on specific topics. I also feel the need to write in a different voice and to be less emotive and more factual in my writing.

    So yes, two blogs and there are a number of issues I'd like for us to cover!

  • Amanda   May 2, 2011, 10:54 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Pippa Buchanan   April 27, 2011, 12:27 p.m.

    "My commitment to personal blogging has suffered as a result of "weird people" on the web, working out my privacy boundaries and feeling guilty about personal blogging...I also feel the need to write in a different voice and to be less emotive and more factual in my writing."

    ^^ This is actually very much how I feel about blogging.  I feel as if I come off a bit phony and would like to discover my blogging "voice".

  • Laura Hilliger   April 27, 2011, 9:08 a.m.

    Hi everyone! I'm Laura, a professional introduction is on my bio page. I'm blogging about open education, open web, open tools and platforms as well as openness in general. I get caught up when blogging and find myself in need of moral/productivity support.

    Sometimes I just think, "Hm, should I really blog bou this particular thing" after I've already spent an hour or two writing the blog. Fact is, my blog is opinionated, and opinions are not always shared, so I'm hoping to get some perspective on what I should share and whether or not I'm allowed to be so opinionated! This study group is going to help me with that, I can feel it.

  • nzeribe   May 1, 2011, 4:44 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Laura Hilliger   April 27, 2011, 9:08 a.m.

    I absolutely think that you should be opinionated. There's this great article by the blogger Mark Bernstein. He writes: "Readers love controversy and learn from debate. Disagreement is exciting. Everyone loves a fight, and by witnessing the contest of competing ideas we can better understand what they imply."

  • Amanda   April 26, 2011, 7:25 p.m.

     

    Hello!  I am Amanda, 23 yrs old, Web Design/ Development enthusiast.  My heart is in Web Design and learning how to develop applications for the web.

    I've tried many times to blog about something worth reading.  I follow many blogs and they all have their own unique traits that keep me coming back.  Some may be dedicated to something specific such as cooking or designing, while others are a simple timeline of memorable (and unmemorable) events.  Either way, they each have a sense of capturing the reader.  I would like to begin blogging with just simple events that occur each day and maybe move into a specific topic.  I would like to accomplish this at the end of this study group. 

  • Lynn Cook   April 20, 2011, 1:18 a.m.

    Hello. My name is Lynn. Last year I decided to stop being a roster manager in a call centre and started to investigate more creative and fun pursuits. I now spend my time painting, drawing, cooking and gardening. I'm also interested in learning to program.

    I've set up three separate blogs.

    1. Lynn M Cook - lynnmcook.blogspot.com - is to do with my art practise. I want to use this blog as a place to show my work, as well as talk about courses I've been on, exhibitions I've seen, and lectures I've heard.

    2. Lynn Cook's Food - lynncooks.blogspot.com - is my cooking blog. This blog has gone through several iterations and I'm in the process of changing it again. I want this blog to focus on cooking well and simply at home.

    3. Lynn is Learning - lynnislearning.blogspot.com is a grab bag of started projects and interesting tid bits.

    I suppose that what I most need help with is taking the ideas for blog posts out of my head, writing them up, and posting them. And finding a way to do this on a regular basis.