Writing Blog Entries

Although it seems that blogs have just recently burst onto the Internet scene, the reality is that they were started almost 20 years ago, in the early 1990s, by students who pioneered what was essentially an online version of a personal diary. Soon, these online diaries were known as “weblogs,” or web-based logs of peoples' lives. Short for “weblog,” the term “blog” was coined around 1999, and we have used it ever since. At the moment, there are literally tens of millions of blogs running around the world.

It is true, though, that blogs did not really come into their own until a few years ago. Now, there are blogs for almost everything: politics, social causes, cultural phenomena, businesses, professions, and so forth. In fact, they are so widespread that many professors create their own classroom-based blogs and ask their students to write entries throughout the course of the semester. This is a version of the discussion question / discussion response dynamic that exists in both online classes as well as traditional brick-and-mortar classes. In a way, it is a more useful version for students, given the likelihood that they might wish to start their own blogs one day (if they haven't already).

Blogs are used in other coursework as well. Some professors ask students to create their own blogs and keep up on them throughout the course of the semester. Other professors ask students to seek out and identify blogs which they find compelling, and to follow and post to those blogs as a homework assignment.

Regardless of the type of blogging assignment, the reality is that blogging is much harder to do than it might seem on the surface. Millions of people keep diaries; not all of them are Anne Frank. The fact that anyone can start and maintain a blog does not mean that all blogs are worthy of following. There needs to be a thematic concept, and it needs to be sound, and maintained, through all of the posts that are included down the line. The posts themselves need to strike the right tone, again based upon the thematic concept that has been chosen. And of course the posts need to be well-written, not just perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, and so forth, but also lively, interesting, entertaining, and substantive.

That's a tall order for something that seems, initially, to be so easy. That's why many students get into trouble with blogging assignments: they think they can whip off any text whatsoever, but when they do, they find that this brings them poor grades. Let us help you with your blog assignments. We will get you on the right track, not just for now, but for your future in blogging.