Off to a roaring start yesterday, thanks to everyone who made it to the lecture and contributed.  As you would have gathered, making contributions and being part of the network is what we’re all about in this course.  Here is a bit of broad direction for the workshops, and the rest of the course beyond.

For those of you who are completely new to blogs, firstly, you are probably not completely new to blogs after all.  There are elements of major social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and the like) that are very closely connected to blogging practice, however the blog allows you to dive much deeper into establishing yourself as a valuable participant, contributor, and creator within your particular area of interest.  You may find the initial weeks in this course  a bit challenging, but you should in turn be learning lots of new things, which is the very idea.

For those of you who are already operating in this space, the brief can be slightly different.  You could use this course more as an opportunity to develop particular aspects of your practice.  You can pursue an area of your own interest, and try to establish yourself as a content creator in that space.   Your ‘area of interest’ can be anything that you’re into – fashion, film noir, gardening, herbal teas, whatever (as long as it isn’t offensive).

You will still be required to reflect on this work through your assessment tasks, but your focus might be less on ‘how does this thing work’ and more on ‘how can I explore the possibilities of this thing‘.  While some technical aspects of this course may not be particularly new or challenging to you, the work that you produce, ideas that you explore and your theoretical engagement with the course should push you into exciting new territory.

For a bit of inspiration, check out this list of 50 successful blogs by Gregory Ciotti from business development software company Help Scout, and see if you find something to get the ideas rolling.