Entering the blogosphere
You’ll begin blogging on your own public-issue-themed site soon, so I think it’s time for us to talk more directly about what makes a good blog post on a public issue.
Read through at least two blog posts; one of them should be one of the ones I’ve listed below. The second can be one you find on your own—as long as it’s on a public issue (does not have to be yours), it’s interesting to you, and it has more than 10 comments (as some measure of popularity).
- “Injunction Junction” (On the Supreme Court’s recent decisions), Dahlia Lithwick, Slate
- “If a self-driving car gets into an accident, who–or what–is legally liable?” Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic
- “In Ferguson and Beyond, Punishing Humanity,” Kate Manne, NY Times
- No, Hope Solo is not like Ray Rice (Ta-Nahisi Coates, The Atlantic). http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/no-hope-solo-is-not-like-ray-rice/380626/ or On Labor (On abortion and women’s health.), Ta-Nahesi Coates, The Atlantic.
- “Is ‘Eat Real Food’ Unthinkable?” (On the government’s new food recommendations, veganism and the food lobbies), Mark Bittman, The New York Times.
- Depression and the Limits of Psychiatry (On the new diagnostic manual and reclassification of depression), Gary Gutting, The New York Times
- “Go Away, Cold Fusion,” PZ Myers, ScienceBlogs
- “Study: Public views of drug addition much more negative than views of mental illness,” Kim Krisberg, ScienceBlogs
- “Dear Mona, Does Living Together Before Marriage Increase the Risk of Divorce?,” Mona Chalibi, FiveThirtyEight
I’d like you to read through a few of these blogs with an eye to four things in particular:
- How does the post convey a distinctive and personal voice? In other words, how do you know what kind of person the writer is? What does s/he sound like? What kind of tone (funny, conversational, glib, snarky, etc) does the writer use?
- How does the post interact with other sites or people? What does this interaction do for the post?
- How is the post structured to keep your attention? How does it use pictures, questions, humor, short sentences, headings, stories, etc.?
- How does the post begin and end? How does this structure contribute to the point it’s making?
Then write a ~250 word blog post addressing these 4 questions. As usual, give your post a good title, make your writing interesting, provide links or pictures, and give it a clear beginning and end.
Finally, comment on a peer’s post, after reading the blog post s/he linked to. (Do not comment on a post that’s writing about the same blog post you wrote about.) Add a substantive observation about the style, interaction, structure, etc. of the post your peer chose.
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