The other day – when I should have been doing something more useful – I started thinking about how I get round to commenting on other blogs, and eventually came up with the following process:
I read blog posts through my Desktop RSS Aggregator – Vienna on my new Mac (I still use Feedreader on my PC)
I save any blog posts that are interesting in ‘Marked Articles.’
If I think I might comment on a post I might then bookmark it. This involves right clicking the post feed to open it in Safari / Firefox to then b able to bookmark it via the Delicious plug-in.
I have a system where I do not add tags to any bookmarks I only want in My Delicious site temporarily. That way they automatically go to ‘Unmarked bookmarks’ at the bottom of my tag list. I just write a quick memo in the Notes box (e.g. “comment on this”).
Sometimes later (if I have time, or remember a specific post, or think of something interesting to say), I’ll go to My Delicious, open up the blog post and finally…write a comment.
This seems ridiculously complex. OK, I could I use an online RSS aggregator, but the various tools involved integrate fairly seamlessly and it’s not a big deal to jump between them. Maybe a lot of ‘simple’ processes we develop are as complex as this when broken down?
So what’s my problem? Do other people just comment straight away on posts they read? What if there’s a load of them – perhaps they allocate time for replying to blogs. If a blog post is really interesting I often need to mull over it, let it sink in, consider its implications to me. Hence the ‘loading bay’ process. I might get back to it later that day or the next – often I’ll just forget about it.
Is developing quick and efficient blogging discourse is a skill – just one of many skills that make up digital / web literacies?
The other day – when I should have been doing something more useful – I started thinking about how I get round to commenting on other blogs, and eventually came up with the following process:
- I read blog posts through my Desktop RSS Aggregator – Vienna on my new Mac (I still use Feedreader on my PC)
- I save any blog posts that are interesting in ‘Marked Articles.’
- If I think I might comment on a post I bookmark it. This involves right clicking the post feed to open it in Safari / Firefox to then be able to bookmark it via the Delicious plug-in.
- I have a system where I do not add tags to any bookmarks I only want in My Delicious site temporarily. That way they automatically go to ‘Unmarked bookmarks’ at the bottom of my tag list. I just write a quick memo in the Notes box (e.g. “comment on this”).
- Sometimes later (if I have time, or remember a specific post, or think of something interesting to say), I’ll go to My Delicious, open up the blog post and finally…write a comment.
This seems ridiculously complex. OK, I could I use a browser-based or online RSS aggregator to simplify the technology, but these tools integrate fairly seamlessly and it’s not a big deal to jump between them. Maybe a lot of the seemingly ‘simple’ processes we develop are as complex as this when broken down? So what’s my problem? Do other people just comment straight away on posts they read? What if there’s a load of them – perhaps they allocate time for replying to blogs. If a blog post is really interesting I often need to mull over it, let it sink in, consider its implications to my work. Hence the ‘loading bay’ process. I might get back to it later that day or the next – often I’ll just forget about it. My PhD study is concerned with such processes, and developing an efficient blogging discourse is one of the key skills that contributes to effective digital and web literacy.
Tags: blogging
This entry was posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 7:43 am and is filed under Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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September 7th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I usually just comment and click on “send updates on comments” for those sites that have it. As a result, there are many times when I forget what I commented on, especially if it is a site I have not been to before. If I really want to follow the comments for those blogs, I will bookmark it on delicious. However, I ALWAYS include a tag and a note on my delicious account.
For those sites I follow, I will go back to the post occasionally to see if there are any follow up comments. If this is an issue I’m really interested in, I will include it in one of my own blog posts. Then I have my own thoughts on the issue (giving me time to think about it) and a link to the site. I rarely bookmark my own posts, but instead try to make sure that I tag the blog posts so I can find them when I need them (I usually do a search of my blogs using the tags).
One thing I have learned over the last two years is the importance of tags. I tag all of the sites I use in individual classes using the course number. When I begin class, I’ll click on the class tag and then search through that list for the particular site I want to use in class that day. It makes it a lot faster to find sources (and to search for them when I am preparing for class). I also have a “dissertation” tag that I can then narrow down depending on what part of the data I am looking for. I use the notes section to give greater insight as to how I can use a source (somewhat like an annotated bibliography).
September 7th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
The ‘send updates on comments’ feature sounds like a good idea. I don’t seem to have an option for it on my blog (though there may be a WordPress plug-in for it). I totally agree with you on the importance of tagging and annotated notes (despite the potential for inconsistency – I’m sure we all tag slightly differently day to day depending on our mood!). But how much of your class content is relevant across more than one of your classes? The advantage of tagging systems is that things can exist in more that one place. Also, I know some Delicious users who choose to use Tag Bundles if they want to develop several key resource areas.
September 7th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
I tag it for all the courses that are relevant. However, because I teach in 3 different departments (communication, marketing and management, and education) it is rare it will be relevant for ALL courses. You can see my tags on delicious. Those with ACOM, ETAP, or MKMG are my course tags. Can you describe what you mean by Tag Bundles?
September 7th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
You can create tag bundles in tag options in the top right corner. They are just a way of organizing existing tags into categories. Personally, I’ve never found the need for them.