I had mixed feelings about senior year blogs at the beginning. I had blogged twice before, once in a personal setting and once for my sophomore year English class. I dreaded every time I needed to post for the sophomore blog, because we had little freedom with what we blogged about – our teacher would give us topics, and I didn’t like being so limited, so I was hesitant about starting Challenges ♀f Charlie.
My worries were appeased with the idea of using an umbrella or a lens. I chose a feminist umbrella, which is a topic I’m interested in. It’s made coming up with blogging topics easier because it’s usually research I would’ve done even if I wasn’t writing a blog. I tend to genuinely like the ideas for my blogs, like when I examined Frozen and Scandal, which again helps the writing flow. I’ve learned that I write better when I’m personally connected to the topic. For example, blogging about Malala and my views about education, as a student, came a lot easier than blogging about Islam and the veil because I don’t know many people who are Islamic or who wear a veil. That will unquestionably affect how I choose what to write about second semester.
As first semester has continued, I’ve gotten better at incorporating more into my posts, ‘more’ being more multimedia, linked articles, and pictures. When I scroll through the page and see the posts lined up, the newer, higher posts are a lot more colorful than ones closer to the bottom. I’ve always been good at doing research before I write about something, it’s a habit from debate and definitely a strength as a blogger, but now I’m finding information easier to incorporate and link to.
However, I’ve struggled to balance that research and explanations with original analysis. When I wrote my blog about Frozen, I originally had half of the blog post as an explanation of the plotline, because I felt like the reader should understand it before I made my points. However, this left little space for me to actually make the points, due to the limited attention span of the average reader. I ended up only including the plot points I thought necessary, and interlocking the arcs with the analysis to make sure the post flowed. I’ll keep working on editing to find an explanation/analysis balance next semester.
My favorite Academy blog is easily Jacob Levin’s, because of its humor and because he posts more prolifically than the rest of us. When I check feedly, he almost always has a new post, which I can’t say the same for myself or the rest of this classmates. I’ve laughed out loud when I read his satire, especially when it’s directed at other Academites, such as ‘"I don't care what these scientists say about the whole global warming conspiracy," noted local dimwit Alex Kaplan,’ from his global warming post.
On a more serious note, I also like Katy’s blog and Jack’s blogs because they make it very easy for the reader to comment. Katy covers ethical dilemmas, and Jack takes the side of the ‘devil’s advocate’ and they both cover controversial topics, like religion in schools or ‘selfies,’ but they only express their opinion and leave the rest of the debate to play itself out in the comments section. I want to do a better job of incorporating the reader into my blog posts, so people feel like they can comment because they have something to say.
I believe the idea of ‘incorporating the reader’ should be the direction that Academy blogs should take. I think it’d be an enlightening experience if, say, a third of the class was assigned to blog by one date, and then the remaining two-thirds of the class had a few days after that to debate in the comment section, almost in the spirit of a moodle discussion only more student-driven. I think right now the way we blog is very shallow and not integrated. People write just to get the assignment done, and comment in the same fashion. I’ve rarely seen more than 2-3 comments on a blog, and the comments themselves are unconnected islands, which isn’t how a blog or a comments section is supposed to work. I think that system would encourage higher quality blog writing, because the writer will know 10+ academites will be reading it, and more depth to the conversations that will play out later.
(748 words)
Cia♀,
Charlie
