The Blog: Writing for the Future

 by Katie Struck

Recently, I attended MBLGTACC (Monosexual, Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Trans, and Ally College Conference) with some of the other members of the Monmouth College Spectrum group. At the conference there were keynote speakers and workshop leaders talking about ways to improve LGBTQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Questioning, and Ally) groups and raise awareness about important issues and information. I went to workshops on topics ranging from "Myths and Misconceptions about Kinky Sex" to "Trans Activism and Cis Privilege." As soon as I got back to campus, I wanted to write about what I learned, but I did not know what forum to use, and then I thought of the largest audience that I could possibly hope to get this information to, the internet. I wanted to blog, but I had to know what would make the best blog. How can a blog both be shared publicly and positively affect the local community?

As a regular Tumblr user, I appreciate the work of bloggers. I even have two pages on Tumblr that have some blog entries. I love to read review blogs on movies and books like http://feministfilm.tumblr.com/ and http://noseinabook.tumblr.com/, learn about current issues from activism blogs such as http://fuckyeahbiactivism.tumblr.com/, and learn about people from personal blogs like http://highfunctioningdarklordofall.tumblr.com/. While all of these blogs use blogging in a positive and effective way, not all blogs are grammatically correct or backed up with factual evidence, which can create a problem. The problem is what makes a good blog? Along with pulling from my own personal experiences, I interviewed Bridget Draxler to get some ideas.

Draxler is the Communication Across the Curriculum coordinator and director of the MC Writing Center. She has a background in studying and using communication technology. She said that one of the main misconceptions about blogging, Twitter, and email is that they make writing increasingly informal. While that is true of many blogs, blogs can also be useful tools to writers in and out of classes if they are used with basic ideas of what is important in writing like audience, content, voice, and grammar. When blogs are used right, they should resemble reader response papers, and the expectations for tone and voice should be the same. Also, a positive effect of all this new communication technology is that people are writing more than ever. With this more public form of writing, writers can get feedback from their peers, and this authentic audience can make writers hold their work to higher standards than if they are just writing for themselves or an assignment.

Draxler suggests that writing with the purpose of education or activism should fuel changes within the local community and be fueled by those changes. Often when people write blogs about subjects like feminism, LGBT issues, economic issues, or body positivity, then, they find a like-minded community online where they can share information. However, if bloggers do not use the information that they learn from other's blogs to better their community, then there is a separation between those people and their communities and a lost opportunity to brainstorm with community members on how to improve small towns and cities for all people.

Blogging when used right can be useful for sharing, persuading, informing, and evaluating just like the papers that Composition and Argument students learn to write. The main elements that bloggers should include in their blog entries are attention to audience, voice, evidence, and grammatical errors. Whether the blog entry is a personal account about being in a relationship as an asexual woman or an evaluative piece about the latest John Green book The Fault in Our Stars, the writing should be well crafted and passionate. The Tumblr community seems to be eager to learn new information and consider new ideas, so it is the ideal place to foster creativity and personal growth. At the same time, it has applications to daily life and our college community as a place where writers are in conversation with each other. I encourage all writers to try blogging as a writing outlet and look forward to continue blogging.