Guidelines for posting

In one section, at least, I didn't have a chance to describe my expectations for blog posts, so here's a quick rundown:

• Keep the language professional. Observe the rules of spelling and grammar. (No "roflmao, imho, tyvm" action.)
• That said, you can employ a more casual and entertaining tone here than you would use in your paper assignments. Part of the art of writing for the Web is knowing your audience, having something worthwhile to say, and getting your point across in an engaging way.
• Say no to epic posts. Posts only have to be 2-3 full paragraphs (a paragraph is roughly 4-6 sentences, depending on how complex you make your sentences). Comments can be made in one paragraph.
• Use the affordances of the medium. Why have a web(log) instead of a paper-and-pencil journal? So you can link to other students' posts or online content, add relevant images, etc.

In terms of content, the blog posts are responses to the assigned readings (so if you've signed up to blog for a Thursday, you will post something about one of the readings done for the Tuesday prior, since we'll be discussing the Tuesday readings in Thursday section). Don't feel that you have to tackle all of the readings, or even one reading in its entirety. Limit summary (unless it's useful to you), and instead try to pick out one point/claim, example, or comparison that you found interesting or controversial in some way. Feel free to refer to your own experience or previous readings to make a connection or draw out some subtext.

In essence, keep the blog posts focused, well-written, and open to further input--remember, we'll be discussing together as two sections. If you'd like to see some examples from previous class blogs I've moderated, visit Representing Nature or Good Old-Fashioned Futures.