Read my Blog

Workshop: Blogging for ResearchersGraeme Earl, Lisa Harris, Nicole Beale, Fiona Harvey,

Peter Wheeler, Alison Simmance, Hembo PagiJanuary 2013

Workshop Plan

• Intro to the blogging setup and plans for future development (Graeme)

• Examples of existing University blogs (Graeme)• What is blogging and why is it important (Lisa)• Blogging for researchers (Nicole)• University blogging rules e.g. posting copyright

material, complaints etc. (Fiona)• Technical aspects – requesting a blog, signing up and

creating a blog post. This will be a quick demo and then a hands-on opportunity (Peter)

Blogging setup• Funded by Multidisciplinary initiative, sotonDH and the DE USRG, with support from iSolutions

and Communications and Marketing • Wordpress (www.wordpress.com)• “Multi-site”• Domain blog.soton.ac.uk or custom• University theme

• Standard plugins e.g. social media, ePrints• Commenting and trackbacks e.g.

http://www.portusproject.org/blogs/2012/11/rome-what-lies-beneath/

• blog.soton.ac.uk• Two options:

– The standard blog is provided with a University theme. You can add, manage or remove content and users, select from a list of pre-installed plugins and request new plugins from iSolutions but you cannot change the theme

– The custom blog is a empty blog with which you can create your own theme, change the plugins and manage the blog as a custom site. iSolutions is unable to support you in creating your own themes. Any theme which is used to represent the University should be approved by Marketing and Communications

Example University blogs• Events:

– Web Science 2013: http://www.websci13.org/

• Projects:– Agincourt: http://www.agincourt.soton.ac.uk/blog/– Slavery and Revolution: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/slaveryandrevolution/– Portus Project: http://www.portusproject.org/– LANG-SNAP: http://langsnap.soton.ac.uk/– Százhalombatta : http://szazhalombattaexcavation.info/

• Research Groups:– ILC: www.blog.soton.ac.uk/ilc– ACRG: http://acrg.soton.ac.uk/– Digital Humanities: http://digitalhumanities.soton.ac.uk/– Digital Economy: http://digitaleconomy.soton.ac.uk/– Computational Imaging: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/cii/– Work Thought Blog: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/wfrc/– CAHO Seminar series: http://cahoseminars.soton.ac.uk/

• Teaching:– Languages at Southampton: http://www.languagesatsouthampton.soton.ac.uk/

What is a blog?

• ‘conversational scholarship’or• ‘writing which makes scholarly work accessible and

accountable to a readership outside the academy’ (Gregg, 2006 p 147-8)

or• ‘a discussion or informational site published online

and consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first)’ (Wikipedia)

http://www.socialnomics.net/2011/12/28/infographic-every-60-seconds-on-the-web/

Rationale

• Technology Will Kill…(2 min video by Erik Qualman)

• Seth Godin and Tom Peters on blogging • Blogging provides:– Visibility– Recognition– Community and public engagement– Social capital

@lisaharris #CIMbrandyou

Dare you Google yourself...?

Blogs v websitesBlogs• Instantaneous• Timely• Posts are time stamped• Personal and informal• You “subscribe” to blogs to be updated with new content• Two-way communications

Websites• Tend to be static• Change infrequently• Who knows how old?• Generally impersonal even ‘corporate’• You “bookmark” websites but this is easily forgotten• One-way communications

Various blogging forms

• Personal brand building – see Martin Weller’s EdTechie blog • A project diary which may be collaboratively produced and

edited – see Guy Poppy’s Assets Malawi Blog• A reflective diary relating to a specific course – see Maria S

erres’ MSc blog • A collection of projects within a research group – see

Digital Economy USRG• Crowdsourcing content/feedback on the writing of draft

book chapters - see Charlene Li’s Open Leadership• Syndication of relevant content to a range of authors - see

LSE Impact blog

Pulling it all together• Use the blog framework as a central point pulling in your other social

media content:– Tweets– LinkedIn– Flickr– Vimeo/YouTube– Slideshare– Pinterest etc

• You can also embed other social media within individual blog posts – video content is increasingly important

• Provide sharing buttons so that your readers can share your content on their own networks

• These activities provide a regular supply of googlejuice to the blog

Blogging and search engine optimisation

Social media shares of a blogpost are the biggest influence on its search visibility:

1. Facebook shares2. Facebook comments3. Facebook likes4. Tweets

http://www.socialmediastrategist.co.uk/blog/1-news/175-social-media-seo

Practical tips

• Be transparent and authentic• Build social capital by providing a regular supply of

interesting content• Use a range of media in each post• Keep posts short – our attentions spans are getting

ever smal…• Link and share. Link and share. Did I say link and

share?• Respond to all queries and comments • Don’t expect instant results…persistence will pay off

“No more disruptive innovation, please”

Useful links

How to write a good research blogpostBlogging: the new research dissemination strategyReview of Martin Weller’s book Digital ScholarThe value of academic blogging