Literature: Cons of blogging (Part 1)

So far I have not been able to find many negative research findings about blogging. Most of such findings take the form of observations and opinions rather than substantiated empirical evidence.

Grohol (2002) was of the opinion that the blogs required constant monitoring and updating and were therefore time-consuming. I see this working the other way: Consistent blogging encourages bloggers to write on a topic over a sustained period of time over smaller chunks of text (Downes, 2004; Kadjer & Bull, 2003). This allows bloggers to fine tune their thoughts. This might also engage audiences of the blog if there is a sustained conversation between the blogger and the reader (Downes, 2004).

Grohol put forward a question that most people used to text-based discussion forums might ask: What advantages do blogs have over BBS-type discussion forums? I asked myself the same question and came up with answers that others had already given. Oravec (2003) argued that the nature of blogs was to provide a personal angle from which to comment or critique. Contrast this with threaded discussion forums in online learning environments which are rarely owned by users. Creating your own blog could promote ownership and place the responsibility on the blogger (Godwin-Jones, 2003). The argument then is not so much the technical affordances of either tool but the philosophical or pedagogical approach of using each tool. I argue that blogs are more suited for giving ownership to independent learners while forums may be more instructor "controlled".

Grohol was also critical that blogs were an open a system on the Internet and that anyone could respond to any post. This is probably a valid concern in educational blogging if privacy is an issue. However, Stiler and Philleo (2003) pointed out that some public server-based blogging systems such as Blogger allowed users to opt out of public directory listings. While each blog would still have a URL, the blogs could only be found if someone knew the exact URL. This made one blog among millions difficult to find.

References

Downes, S. (2004). Educational blogging. Educause Review, September/October, 14-26.

Godwin-Jones, R. (2003). Blogs and wikis: Environments for on-line collaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 12-16.

Grohol, J. M. (2002). Psychology of weblogs: Everything old is new again. Retrieved October 10, 2004, from http://psychcentral.com/blogs/blog_new.htm.

Kadjer, S. & Bull, G. (2003). Scaffolding for struggling students: Reading and writing with blogs. Learning & Leading With Technology, 31(2), 32-35.

Oravec, J. A. (2003). Blending by blogging: Weblogs in blended learning initiatives. Journal of Educational Media, 28(2/3), 225-233.

Stiler, G. M., & Philleo, T. (2003). Blogging and blogspots: An alternative format for encouraging reflective practice among preservice teachers. Education, 123(4), 789-797.