Today in Networked Media, we had some serious blog knowledge imparted by a woman serious about her art – Dr Inger Mewburn who began blogging when she had her first child and then again when she began crafting her second – her PHD. I suppose blogging about motherhood gave Dr Mewburn her ability to write with personality and passion, which is points to as a crucial aspect in any kind of online publication – it’s important to be yourself and create a sense that you are present in the work and its evolution.

Her ideas surrounding surrounding building an online community were really interesting and I think very relevant to us as Media students, her idea that communities “dont just happen…they take work”, is especially important, as we are all I suppose  equal collaborators in this online project, so have a kind of obligation to contribute our ideas without being paranoid of them being ‘stolen’ by others.  I think what she was trying to say was that ‘Lurkers’, who account for 90% of a blogs traffic will always suck the thing dry and use other people’s information and that they should be ashamed of themselves!

But seriously…I like the way she framed the issue of the social media and the way it has created a sense of presence and therefore pushes us to have a different attitude about ‘knowledge’. This reminded me of the idea of presence in hypertext, and how it feels more collaborative, open and alive than simple ‘content storage’ provided in books.

Must also direct you to her personal blog – found it to be quite captivating! It also got me thinking – blogging makes teachers, may i say this, seem almost….human. Now, THAT is one giant step in blogging….