"But Morgan, you're the only one who cared about blogging when you were in the class," you say. "Why should we listen to your opinion on the subject? You're an outlier!" Good point, imaginary interrogator. It is true that I was one of a few people that actually did all the blogging assignments, and one of an even smaller number that did anything beyond what was asked. I definitely interacted with the blogs in a different manner than most, but I think that's why I am a good example of how good this blogging idea can be.
When the class first got the blogging assignment, I was skeptical. To me, blogs were unknown territory. The whole idea seemed dumb to me: instead of talking about something you've done, why don't you go do something else? Who would want to read about your dumb experiences when they have the ability to have their own dumb experiences? It seemed conceited to me that someone could think their actions so important that they would keep a record of it for others to bear witness to.
Nonetheless, I created my blog for English. I had planned to, at first, do no more than what was required of me. However, after I had done the initial setup, I started customizing the interface, tailoring it to me and my interests. "Why let something that I've already put work into go to waste?" I thought to myself. So I decided to start blogging about stuff that was going on in my life (doing exactly what I had earlier called conceited). I ended up blogging eight times about stuff before we even got a blogging assignment.
While doing this, I discovered how fun it can be to share your experiences can be. I realized that people who blog (generalization to follow) aren't conceited, they just want others to share in their experiences. I found that sharing what I did with whoever was watching was a lot of fun, and it's something I likely never would have discovered if Mr. Kain hadn't made us blog.
As I said earlier, I took classroom blogging more seriously than most others did. This brings me to another point: the blog will be what you make of it. If you grudgingly pump out some garbage post at the last minute for every assignment, blogging is going to suck for you. It's going to be a hassle, and inconvenience, and a generally negative experience for you. On the other hand, it you decide to grab the bull by the horns and make the most of your blog, you might surprise yourself by how much fun it can be.
Yes, blogging can be fun. Instead of just using your blog to post your English assignments (see Brittany's Blog), which will be boring, post about other stuff sometimes (see Matt's Blog). You'll find that the more you post, the more interested in the blog you become. That's something that surprised me as well: the more I posted, the more interested I became in blogging. It sounds weird, but when planning events like Halo Nights, I would take note of how many of those we had had in order to title my blog post accordingly.
How can you make your blog fun? Post about stuff you're doing or stuff you like. Put yourself out there! If there's something you like or do that people don't know about, this could be your opportunity to let them know. Maybe you're a musician: post a recording of you playing a song or something. Maybe you are an amateur speed eating competitor: post a video of you scarfing down some hot dogs. Me, I posted about video game nights and books that I read, along with pictures of the poker table that me and my brothers (and a friend) built. This blog could be the way that people in your class find out more about you and your interests.
Last point: you can achieve internet fame on your blog. Notice, if you look at Matt's blog (linked above), you'll see his pageviews are a scant third of my own. Notice also that my post count more than doubles his. Correlation does not mean causation (just ask your psych teacher), but I think their might be a connection. In case my sarcasm wasn't apparent in the topic sentence, you won't actually be famous (probably). However, it feels cool to know that there are people out there who are taking an interest in what you're doing.
Also, blogging will definitely get you into West Point and make you a super hooah Ranger Apache pilot like me.*
In summation; you should blog, you should blog hard, you should share your experiences with others, blogging can help your classmates get to know you better, it will make you famous, it'll get you into the college of your dreams.**
West Point is awesome, Matt Difabio is a loser, Beat Navy!
*Nothing in that sentence is true.
**Still not true.
