I chose the blog that is linked
above because I love crafting, and so I wanted to use a blog that I have looked
at in the past (Adams, 2012). This blog is very informative. For crafting
purposes, this blog includes writing that is clear and grammatically correct,
and the delivery of information, usually in an instructional manner, is always
well written and easy to follow (Adams, 2012).
In my
opinion, the best practices to follow when creating a blog are to check three
things. One is to check if the writing is something that person would be proud of
if others read it. Many people seem to either not understand or not realize that
information posted on the Internet can spread to areas that it may not have
been intended to go, so it is important that people look at what they are
posting, particularly with blogs, and realize that this blog could reach an
audience that was not originally intended to see it. If people can look at
their blogs and are proud of what they have written and would not mind others
reading it, even others they may not be expecting to read it, then it has
passed the first of the three things that are important to check for. The blog
I chose to look at does this by never posting something that could hurt an audience member (Adams,
2012). Everything she posts could be read by anyone and it wouldn’t be an issue
(Adams, 2012).
The second
thing that is important to check for is the intended information. Does the
information that is being presented truly represent what the blogger wanted it
to? Bloggers should try to read over their post from an outsider’s perspective.
Do they still draw the same conclusion that they intended when writing it? If
so, then it would pass the second check that I would use. Amy Adam's blog Lucykate Crafts does this
by showing step by step instructions with pictures to ensure that her
audience gets the message that she wants them to (Adams, 2012).
Finally,
even though bloggers may not be professional journalists, I would suggest
checking the Journalist Code of Ethics (Society of
Professional Journalists, 2014). The other checks that I mentioned are just
informal checks done, but checking the blog post against the code of ethics is
a much more formal way to check that what is being posted is in appropriate
form, function, and substance (Society of Professional Journalists, 2014). Just
because a blog is not technically held up to those ethical standards, does not
mean that it cannot or should not be. Bloggers having a code of ethics to rely on, especially one that is perhaps more strict than a general one
would be, allows bloggers to have a check over what information they are
publishing to the Internet where it can be seen literally by anyone (Burton
& Greenstein, 2011; Society of Professional Journalists, 2014). In this
blog, Amy never breaks the code of ethics, so she is using good judgment about
what she posts (Adams, 2012; Burton & Greenstein, 2011; Society of
Professional Journalists, 2014).
References:
Adams, A. (2012).
Lucykate crafts. [Weblog] Retrieved from http://lucykatecrafts.blogspot.com/p/about_15.html
Burton, B. &
Greenstein, L. (2011, August 28). Food blog code of ethics. Retrieved from http://foodethics.wordpress.com/
Society of
Professional Journalists. (2014). SPJ code of ethics. Society of Professional Journalists. Retrieved from http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
You made an excellent point about
blogs. They offer readers the opportunity to view work and writings from
someone who has experience that the reader may not have. The blog that you wrote
about is a good example of this. Do you think that her blog would be as
successful if she just posted her own work and did not give advice to others?
Do you think that inviting others to learn from a person’s experience is a best
practice that every blog should use? It definitely is a way to get an audience
to want to read a blog because free advice from someone who has experience is a motivating force. Perhaps with that in
mind, it should be a best practice for bloggers to consider using.
After looking over the blog that I
chose, I noticed that this blogger also sells her products on her blog, so her
practice on her blog is very similar to the one that you wrote about (Adams,
2012). Amy also uses her blog to help others learn new information, but has an
area that shows off her talent and that gains her customers (Adams, 2012).
Reference:
Adams, A. (2012).
Lucykate crafts. [Weblog] Retrieved from http://lucykatecrafts.blogspot.com/p/about_15.html
Reply to Cathy:
http://cathydoherty22.blogspot.com/2014/05/module-8-2-blog-best-practices.html?showComment=1400768073104#c7557611571604182397
While all of your best practice techniques are good ideas, I particularly liked the one mentioning to keep a blog up to date. I complete agree with you. Part of the reason that readers lose interest in blogs is because they are not up to date. In fact, the blog that I chose to analyze has not been updated for a month, and it has been something that has been frustrating for me (Adams, 2012). Readers do not want to constantly keep seeing the same old post when they visit a blog, and although I did not mentioned that in my post, I definitely think that it is something that should be considered a best practice for blogs. How often do you expect posts? I would say at minimum once a week would be ideal. What do you think?
Reference:
Adams, A. (2012). Lucykate crafts. [Weblog] Retrieved from http://lucykatecrafts.blogspot.com/p/about_15.html
