the grasshopper and the ants
When Karenne Sylvester wrote recently about the frequency of blogging, on Janet Bianchini’s blog it made me think. Initially, I disagreed… I would rather have an occasional, top quality read than a regular second rate one. But then I realised that some bloggers are delivering frequent, good quality content. Shorter, maybe, but good quality nonetheless. Quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive. I also notice that there has been quite a slowing down in my google reader of late. Although the hardy veterans (Alex Case, Karenne herself, Jason Renshaw and a few others) are plugging away giving us the good stuff, many of the second and third waves of bloggers certainly seem to be posting less. Is this seasonal? My June and early July are pretty hectic, in this is reflected in my posting frequency. Now I’m in the lull between last classes and exam marking, so I’ve had time to write a little more (although no one read my magnificent archetypes piece… a real labour of love, that one!).
Does it indicate the fading of the flame, a natural burn off after the initial spark of enthusiasm?
I have a slew of interviews lined up (and these are very much the centre of this blog – anything I write myself is to fill the gaps in between) but I also want to stock up for the busy months ahead. I have a long, lazy summer planned… plenty of time to work like a blogging ant! How about you? Do you have anything in the tank? Are you getting tired of blogging? Or do you just want to kick back and recharge your batteries for a couple of months?
Hi Darren, My first thought would be that this is a summer thing (although difficult to tell if you live in Dublin). My second thought was the question as to when will all the ‘back matter’ of language teaching issues have been dealt with? To put it in ‘Sex and the City English ‘Could they be running out of stuff to blog about?’. To coincide with the oil spill being capped, perhaps?
Hey Patrick! Yes, I’m sure it’s summer to an extent. But people may be running out of material, on an individual basis. I suppose it’s like music… a drum kit, a guitar and a bass will always have something to say, but a particular band tends to get tired after three or four albums. Now we have to decide which bloggers are which rock stars
And that’s why I get other people to provide most of my content.
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I agree, I think it’s a summer thing.
When I’m in the cut and thrust of college, there’s always (or nearly always) something that comes up to write about. I guess my thoughts are that you’re able to try something out (tool, lesson idea, activity, whatever) and blog about it. Or your students do something funny/clever/silly and it inspires you to blog.
I’m having a hard time getting thoughts to keyboard at the moment, a symptom of end of year come down after a pretty hectic 9 months. I’ve got a few things in my head, and on my draft posts page, but they’ll take a little longer to crystalise into blog form. I think I’ll probably write more about stuff around actual teaching (materials, institutional, governmental stuff) rather than anyhting solely to do with lessons. Might just take more photos. Who knows?
The other thing is people might just be on holidays and away from their computers…
Best
Mike
I agree that it could have something to do with the time of the year, but there may be other factors at work. A recent Economist article argued that blogging is beginning to change as more and more people use other social networking tooks instead. See Are Facebook and Twitter blog killers?
I’d go with Evan’s thought to be honest… I reckon the easiness of FB and Twitter are lulling followers and ya can’t be (well unless you’re really not teaching) a part-time blogger and a full-time twitterer too.
But dunno, I slowed down partly because of getting ready for other stuff, footie and partly because I wanted the challenge of writing guest-posts and um… it’s also awfully hot in my office these days!
K
Hi,
It’s funny I thought that I’d have more time to write in the summer and that I’d been churning out stuff at least in quantity if not qulaity but I’ve written almost nothing. I guess the summer is traditionally a slower time for me personally and I’ve kind of switched off a bit. Maybe it’s a case of blogstipation or one hit wonderism!
I don’t blog, so perhaps not qualified to comment here, but as a blog reader (and occasional commenter) I would just like to say that the ‘lull’ in recent months has been quite welcomed – by me, anyway. It’s a hectic time of year here in UK and I was totally identifying with Jason’s recent analogy between social media and trying to drink from a firehose. http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2010/06/social-media-and-trying-to-drink-from-a-firehose.html . Unlike Jason, however, I haven’t felt the need to detach myself entirely from social media – Twitter has been essential for me of late to bounce ideas around and I have received some invaluable help – but I have definitely become more astute with regard to what I spend my time reading and reflecting on. Twitter has become something I can dip in and out of, rather than a platform upon which to loiter in case some piece of ‘essential’ information gets tweeted without me knowing. Whether they’re frequent-but-shorter-high-quality posts, or less frequent-but-longer-high-quality posts, a year into establishing myself in an online ELT community, I now have a much better idea of what will be worth accessing.
…So have I become a groupie to the ‘rock stars’?!!! I don’t reckon – I’m always on the lookout for new ‘talent’ but maybe the second/third wave of bloggers you allude to just aren’t up to scratch (bloody hell, starting to sound like Simon Cowell)…with the exception of Emma Herrod, however. I reckon her blog is set to run and run…
Best, Callie
And by the by, Darren, I read the ‘student as archetype’ post, and it was a cracker
A combination, then… the seasonal weather here in Japan certainly makes me feel more languid… causing ‘blogstipation’ (I like that!). Several bloggers have posted to the effect that they will be offline and taking a summer break. Pretty healthy, really.
Evan, thanks for the link, I haven’t seen that before…. but it certainly makes a lot of sense. However, tweeters need something to tweet. I have to admit, the ＃edchat thing doesn’t work for me because I don’t think anything of substance can be said in so few characters… it just ends up as a trade in aphorisms. I see twitter primarily as a link tube, with a little bit of banter on the side. Blogs are where ideas can be expanded, shared, bounced around and developed (and probably books and articles and presentations are still my end point)
Callie, funny Jason should be the one to talk about that when his own blog turned into quite the firehose fairly recently. He seemed to hit a purple patch during my busiest time and I was reading, but had no time to respond. That is the flipside of this, of course. You have to allow readers to catch up and interact. I try to give each post enough breathing space, because once it slips down the reader, it’s gone.
Here’s a game. If the first wave are the real rock stars, who are the diminished second and third waves? Answers will date you horribly – my first bid is The Stone Roses / The Charlatans / Northside.
And Callie, thanks
you were the only one to retweet it, too!
Oasis, Blur (foot in both camps, I’m afraid – still do), Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Garbage. Although I beg to differ on how diminished some of these are – does this give kudos to fact that some 2nd/ 3rd wave bloggers are rock stars also and are here to stay? What a strange tangent I find myself going off on…
…so how old does that make me?!!!
Start with Blur and end up with Menswear? Oasis lead to Hurricane #1?
That makes you about the same age as me, probably
Hi Darren,
I wondered about this too…and I agree with the others that it is a summer thing. However, I also wonder if one day there will be a marked drop in ELT blogging (for instance, if people move onto something new, or just get tired). Or will it keep growing exponentially?
I read your archetypes post, btw and thought it was very good, and the photos were really catching. Sorry I didn’t comment!
I am also now itching to get my hands on the latest ETP to read your article about coursebooks… something I found out via Alex Case’s blog!
I expect we’ll see more blogging in September. I’m returning to the fray then, although I wonder how much longer Six Things will continue… With a blog is it better to burn out in a blaze of glory or to fade away?
How would one burn out? What an interesting thought…..
I feel like a bully now, making people comment on my archetypes post. But to make up for it, you can see my article in pdf form for FREE by clicking the ‘works’ tab at the top of the page. That will take you to a bunch of things I’ve written that have ended up on paper
Got it now thanks!
Are you allowed to republish? I’ve been meaning to republish my MET articles like I used to, but now they’re online too I feel a bit guilty about it
I just cannot see how anyone would ever run out of things to write about! Did you use a variation on a warmer last week? Well, that’s a blog post. Do you have something you want to rant about? Blog post! Etc etc etc etc etc!
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teaching/teach-abroad/101-easy-tefl-blog-posts/
I think it’s ok, Alex. I’m not sure, but I think so. Anyway, Paul Nation does it…..
Interesting points, Darren, and interesting comments too!
You’ll be happy (perhaps) to note that I’ve certainly slowed down my output recently, and it has nothing to do with “summer” (being in the heart of winter here in Australia!). A lot of it has to do with the fact that my wife has been away for close to three weeks, leaving me to mind our children on my own. But I was already slowing down before that, and have dedicated more of my time to online teaching and materials development recently.
But anyway, I’ve always wondered about this blogging thing and the different ways people approach it. I like to think about teaching, and I enjoy writing, and there are times when a lot of it coincides and pours out all at once. There are other times where I just prefer to think and I can’t bear the thought of blogging about it. Then there are other times when I prefer to read around a lot more (as in, other people’s blogs) and be more of a contributor to their posts.
One thing I don’t worry all that much about (and I know this differs from some bloggers’ concerns or goals) is how many people are bothering to read my stuff, nor – for that matter – whether they like it or want to comment in response to it. I think blogging is a pretty personal thing that is nevertheless done in a very public way, and therein (perhaps) lies the enigma of it all.
I’ve rarely known exactly where my blog is headed, and I stopped worrying about it some time ago. It’s a bit like life, I guess!
I haven’t slowed down recently, but looking ahead, I need to cut back on what I’m doing to accommodate new projects. I wondered about announcing that I’d stop blogging for a set period. But I think it’d be hard because things would be bound to come up that I’d be itching to write about. So I’m toying with another idea – just making occasional posts when I can’t contain myself – a ‘reactive blog’ as I think David Crystal might decribe it. Has anyone one else had similar thoughts or ideas on that approach?
I think you are both alluding to the key question a blogger has to ask him or herself – ‘What am I getting out of this?’. The act of writing can itself be enormously helpful in the reflective process, and the discussions that open up in the comments section are even better. But if I find myself casting around for ideas then it’s probably time to leave it for a bit…..
[...] Darren Elliot was maybe first to articulate this curious lag in his Google reader cue or whatever, posing the question: “Does it indicate the fading of the flame, a natural burn off after the initial spark of enthusiasm? [...]