Wisconsin Union Blend

So far at Union Blend we’ve developed, or perhaps stumbled our way into, three general formats for our blog posts

• short tips like this one
• links to interesting online tools and resources (like this post on the RSS toolbox), and
• longer articles on things like the differences between wikis and blogs.

These are just three examples of the 7 basic posting formats listed by Amy Gahran on her excellent blog Contentious:

1. Link-only
2. Link blurb
3. Brief remark
4. List
5. Short article
6. Long article
7. Series postings

Wait a minute? Formats? Isn’t blogging supposed to be totally free-from?

Well, it can be, of course, but while we would never argue that you should develop and stick by blogging formats at the expense of creativity, thinking about post formats for your blog can be useful for you, your readers, and for your students if you’re introducing them to blogging.

For blog writers, having a few post formats at your disposal can help you set the scope of your post as you sit down to write. If your blog usually has a mix of short and long posts, for example, it is easier to break up a lengthy, difficult to write post into a series of shorter, more manageable ones. Developing a new format can also spark creativity. This was certainly true for me when Ron posted the first podcasting tip, because it helped me realize that we could use Union Blend to gradually develop a big library of little, but very useful instructional technology tips without trying to write them all down in one sitting.

For your readers, a set of post formats can help develop a set of expectations about your blog. Also, when tied to categories (or tags), post formats can be a great way to provide your readers with an organizational structure that makes your blog easy to navigate. And, at least one blogger has argued that breaking up the rhythm of your blog with a few different formats can make your blog a more interesting read.

For your students, developing, modeling, and perhaps explicitly discussing a few types of blogging formats will help your students understand what you’re hoping to find in their blog writing, and may make it easier for them to hop in and get started when faced with the big empty text box of their first blog post.

See also:

• Doug’s blogging links - a growing list of blogging resources.

So as Doug and I were having coffee, I said “Why is it that people always mention wikis and blogs in the same breath? They’re not the same things.” Doug was having similar conversations with other people and so he set out to write down an explanation of the differences and similarities as he saw them. And that’s the post you see here.

This is the kind of griping that we want to see in this blog. It’s okay to gripe, but try to encourage yourself and others to respond in a positive way!