Official blog of Clark's Blogging for Journalists class, Mass Communication department

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

"9 o'clock sharp"--To blog or not to blog

"I'll be there at 9 o'clock sharp," she e-mailed me yesterday.
She, a UCO student I didn't know, had asked to interview me on a news story about ten reasons to blog, for the student newspaper, The Vista.
I told her my office hours were from 9 to noon today, and that was her reply--which got my attention.
A student who wants an "early" appointment? A student who says "sharp"?
And at 8:59.30 this morning, she comes down the hall.
After shaking hands, firmly, and as she puts down her backpack and takes out a notebook, I begin my usual barrage of questions: "What's your major?" "What do you want to do for a career?" "Where are you from?" "Do you blog?" and so on. 
(She's a sophomore from Edmond, likes to write, and radio, but doesn't want to be in front of a camera, and still doesn't know exactly what she wants to do.)
Then in response to her question about ten reasons to blog, I tell her
"I've never had that question before," She smiles. 
"I don't know," I say, and the smile wavers.
"But you got me to thinking, and here is a list of reasons to blog and not to blog," and I hand her the list below.
In the next 20 minutes she keeps taking notes as we talk about my blogging class, twitter, journalism and more. Her questions are quick, specific and direct, sometimes asking me why I answered a certain way.
At the end she asks if she can contact me if she has more questions, and the answer is "Of course."
She gathers her backpack, we shake hands as she smiles, and she's on her way.
"Nine o'clock sharp," and she was.
Kateleigh Mills made my day. 
+++
Thanks to her, here's the list of Clark's reasons to blog or not to blog:
“Content is king—technology is the servant”—Terry M. Clark


  • Six reasons to blog--

  1. You need a quality digital “footprint” to get a start on a career in the highly competitive communication field. A blog can be part of that—I have former students whose blogs helped get them jobs.
  2. You have a passion and something original you want to say that can be sustained over time.
  3. You can write grammatically correct sentences,  enjoy writing and can organize your thinking.
  4. You are willing to work at it because quality blogging takes a lot of preparation and time.
  5. You enjoy learning and change because blogging is always changing.
  6. You have an eye for effective design and readability.

  • Six reasons not to blog--

  1. You can’t write a grammatically correct sentence punctuated correctly.
  2. You only want to rant, gripe or whine about a specific subject.
  3. You have no passion or nothing to say.
  4. You are just blogging because you think you should.
  5. You’re lazy and don’t want to put in the time.
  6. You don't really want a career in communication.

Your assignment:  Add one reason to blog, or not to blog in a comment below, by 12:20 p.m. today!

15 comments:

  1. Reason to blog.... You have a unique perspective that can be useful to others in the world or even just be interesting to share.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Reason to blog... You want to find people to relate to and share your experiences with.
    Reason not to blog... being afraid to voice your opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Reason to blog - You want to find a sense of community

    ReplyDelete
  4. Reason to blog... Share your experiences with others so they can use it as guidance to get through a similar experience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Reason to blog: Life throws a lot of curve balls your way and we often struggle with finding a healthy and constructive way of dealing with our problems and stress. I believe blogging is a healthy outlet for working through our problems and it also opens doors for others to help us.

    ReplyDelete
  6. One of the benefits I've gotten from blogging, and I also believe this is a reason to blog, is that the process helps me gain new perspective. As I've posted about my paintings, I get to see what I need to work on more. Also, I see how I can keep up the pace of my posts by incorporating different angles.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Reason to blog: You are knowledgable on a certain topic and want to share that knowledge.
    Reason no to blog: Communicating and expressing yourself through text is very difficult for you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Reason to blog: Blogging gives you a platform to connect with others that share your interests. In a way, it can be used as a networking tool.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Reasons to blog because like Kateleigh made your day, your blog could make someone else's day. Reason no to blog money. You never should do something just because of the money.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Reason not to blog is that if you have a blog that you write and share your thoughts and opinions on things like I do. You are putting your thoughts out to the world for anyone to see and come across which could hurt you in a number of ways down the road with employers or just anything. So you have to think and be careful of what you post. But, I would say that it is a reason to not blog for sure because you never know what someone could take wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think a reason to blog is that it can be an outlet for creativity. It's a way to be creative while sharing useful information in the process.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think that one reason to blog is because it gives us a voice, those of us that are very opinionated in a specific area have a forum where we can let those thoughts out. In my case I am very shy, especially talking in front of big crowds. When I am writing it really does give me a place to write whats going on in my mind.

    ReplyDelete
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  15. A reason to blog: You want to connect with others in a specific field of study and want your opinion to be heard

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