For heaps of reasons in general (like my computer just crashed), but specifically because I have started scheduling interviews for my research (ethics approval pending) and since I am studying social media use it seemed reasonable to communicate via social media. Well, I am connected to some participants in Facebook so I thought I’d try to send messages within Facebook instead of email. I don’t use the “send message” functionality much, but it crashed 8 times while I was trying to send 4 messages. I am still not sure if they finally went through so I ended up using Twitter to contact everybody. Not the best privacy-wise, but at least it works. Hmmm… wonder if I should rethink my research position….?
I just love “behind the scenes” stories. It probably started back in my Mr. Rogers days when he would show little clips like ‘how the mail gets delivered’ or ‘how crayons are made’. It makes me appreciate how much goes in to things we do not pay much attention to. This fascination developed into a devotion to ‘Up close and personal’ sessions during the Olympics and in recent years re-watching the LOTR appendices almost as much as the films.
So I thought it might be interesting to talk about what goes into a blog post. Blogs are funny things because they are this mix of personal musings and public publication. It may not be obvious, but I put quite a bit of thought into the blog topic (although, admittedly, not as much into the actual writing and editing).
A new post usually starts off as a bunch of small observations I have made over the past few days. I walk a lot (to and from school, into town to shop, down the road for coffees, etc) so I have a lot of time to both observe what is happening around me and to reflect on those observations. Quite honestly, it feels a bit like the beginning of a Seinfeld comedy routine “What’s the deal with people getting on a bus? Do they all have to ask the bus driver if the weather is cold enough out there?…” From there 1 or 2 will stand out as both having a universal appeal as a narrative and some sort of lesson or moral. Again, as I am walking, I will start “writing” the blog in my head – fleshing out concepts and thinking of a witty title. However, by the time I actually sit down to type it up I often find that my story isn’t nearly as interesting as it was in my head and that is surely due to the fact that I have forgotten all of the witty bits. So in an attempt to put pen to paper (obviously figuratively – no pens or paper went into the making of this blog), I just start writing.
Unfortunately, the review process is not as rigorous as the A level journals and after a quick preview I post it. However, there have been occasions that I have not published the post and they are sitting in drafts waiting to either be edited (which probably won’t happen) or deleted (which probably should happen). It is funny because I always had this idea that small things were more difficult to write, like a poem is harder than an essay because you have to choose your words so carefully. However, in this case I find blogging much more difficult than micro-blogging. I think it is because this feels more permanent while Twittering has a very ephemeral quality (and honestly even with the word count limitation – I don’t choose my Tweet words particularly carefully).
So whatever the reasons or the results, that is the Behind the Music: the making of Fa’s Blog. Oops I forgot to include the sudden rise to fame, the equally sudden fall caused by addictions to sex/drugs and the where-are-they-now bits….
I am beginning to see the parallels between be lost in (cyber) space and being an academic. It is a lonely world out there and if you find another life form, you hang on as if your life depended on it. I have been on a fairly lonesome journey during this first year as a researching postgrad. I rarely interact with people other than librarians, IT staff, and my supervisor’s red ink. So now that the summer holidays are almost over and more people have trickled back into the department I am almost giddy with social interaction and personal contact. However, like in cyberspace, I am tentative about entering into someone else’s space (or office) without making sure that it is ok. Everybody is really busy writing and I don’t want to bother them but I really love to talk to other postgrads and faculty about their research so I am always looking for the opportunity to engage.
In blogging and other social media I have seen similar behaviour. Recently, actually, Twitter has been surprisingly interactive. A colleague has been Twittering about needing to get a page done each day and I have be following and Twittering with my own writing goals (see http://twitter.com/FaNiemi). It is amazing how this not only kept me connected, but also really motivated me. It is incredible how powerful a dozen words can be. @FaNiemi – Research doesn’t feel quite so lonely anymore.
I can really identify with this post, http://mrees.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/achieving-the-final-stage-of-twitter-acceptance/ as I install TwitterFox and Twadget. Microblogging for me is a combination of a personal marketing tool and lifeline to social networks when I can’t be bothered to either fully blog or fully engage with people outside of cyberspace. Or maybe Twitter is a gateway drug to Second Life, not sure.
Not that I go around quoting Martha much these days, but WordPress’s QuickPress is a good thing. There is still a wide divide for me between the ease (and now habit) of microblogging with Twitter and the “normal” blogging of WordPress. Sometimes I just want to say a bit (not a byte or a kilobyte or a megabyte) and it feels funny only putting a few words in the big empty space of the editor. Now a have a wee space for my quick thoughts. It’s not just a good thing, it’s perfection 
Short and sweet. Twittering and updating Facebook status is in a word, perfection (better than gum). It is like walking into a room full of your friends and instantly knowing what everybody is up to, with just a quick glance. One “is relaxing at home” and another “is studying” and yet another “is heading out for Thai food”. Ok, that’s it then. No wondering what’s been happening during the 4 hours since I last checked, I’ll just have a wee glance.
The other part I really like about microblogging is that it seems to encourage response comments even more than “normal” blogging. One “is voting by absentee ballot”, which is followed by “who’d you vote for?” and on and on. In fact I just learned that one of my friends had a baby, he “is trying to remember how to swaddle a wiggly baby”, “your baby?! well done!!!”. It is like a little microcosm of life events, all told in the third person and served up on my news feed.
My supervisor just joined Facebook and asked about that aspect of it, “is it always in the third person?” Yeah, Fa is thinking the third person is kinda weird, but you get used to it. I also can’t quite stop using the “is” even though you don’t need to any more. Fa is attached to the “is”.
Microblogging forces you to concisely describe your mood, activities, disposition, and general state of being in under 255 characters. I guess the trick for me is to figure out what is so appealing about the microblog and replicate it in my regular blog. Shorter posts? More provocative topics? Personal details? Increased frequency?
Fa is thinking that microblogging is worth some additional research and study.
Your head’s in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you’re walking on air. And then you know what? You’re knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!
Friend Owl, Bambi
I have been around technology for awhile now and I am certainly no newbie when it comes to buzz on the web, but I still find myself in awe sometimes. I had a wonderful chat with a lecturer from the Media, Film and Communication department today (see http://www.otago.ac.nz/communicationstudies/staff/pearson.html). We spoke at length on developing a blogging community which seems to have three components: a blog/blogger with something worth saying, the ability to attract readers, and the desire for readers to stick around, engage in the discussion and become a part of the blog’s network.
I need work on all fronts, but have been in a bit of a panic about the second point on attracting readers. We discussed different mechanisms for directing people to the blog including asking friends, through social networking, and meme. Additionally, Erika said she’d twitter an advert to my site as part of the “you know and trust me, and I am vouching for her, so check it out” strategy. Well tonight I took a quick peek at the blog stats which have been hovering around 0 and what can I say – it was up past 15! Fifteen people (and yes most of the referrals were from Twitter) checked me out.
All I can say is wow, there is something really powerful about the manner (and speed) of online networking. I think there is definitely something there worth a deeper look. And yes, I do feel slightly twitterpated.
For heaps of reasons in general (like my computer just crashed), but specifically because I have started scheduling interviews for my research (ethics approval pending) and since I am studying social media use it seemed reasonable to communicate via social media. Well, I am connected to some participants in Facebook so I thought I’d try to send messages within Facebook instead of email. I don’t use the “send message” functionality much, but it crashed 8 times while I was trying to send 4 messages. I am still not sure if they finally went through so I ended up using Twitter to contact everybody. Not the best privacy-wise, but at least it works. Hmmm… wonder if I should rethink my research position….?
Recent Comments