Sunday, August 2, 2009

Thing 12, Creating Community through Commenting

I have participated on discussion boards in classes and I occasionally have commented on blogs that I "lurk" on. I feel that it is a good way to share information and create a conversation between individuals. I agree with Cool Cat Teacher's comment that "the true conversation participants are those who contribute to the discussion wherever the blog posting is." She is encouraging people to share their wisdom on a subject in multiple venues, not just their own blogs. I also agree with her guidelines to Criticize Kindly. In an online environment it is so easy to be misunderstood with out the intention of offending someone. I experienced this on a discussion board I was commenting to; I inadvertently stepped on another person's toes and she let me have it. I apologized for the statement that I made about wanting a printer solely for the librarian's (me) use to print library related materials. I was wishing out loud so to speak and she promptly pointed out that her district was very limited on funds and resources and that she would never presume to be so extravagant. I try to re-read every comment that I make in order to keep this type of incident from happening again, although if I continue to pursue an online presence I am sure that it will.

I chose these Library2Play blogs to respond to: Book Diva, I highly recommend everyone take a look at this blog. Book Diva personalized her blog background and it looks very attractive she is also very thorough in her posts. I also commented on Book Egg blog; reading through her posts I seemed to feel an instant rapport with her. Wow, someone who has finished all 23 Things; I visited and commented on Gooder's Adventure Blog Monday morning. Looking at someone's blog that is finished has inspired me, thanks Ms. Gooder! I enjoyed watching her PhotoStory Thing.

(Aug. 5) As I work through my "Thing" List, blogs catch my eye; this morning it was Algebra at SOC. Another L2P participant finished with all 23 Things and I am still scrambling to get them all done! I commented on her PhotoStory Thing, very cute, she included her children (I'm assuming here) in the commentary. Great idea, I can see students using this resource to culminate any project, using their own photos or Flikr Creative Commons and describing the content. It really makes an impression when hear the children's voices.

Exploring Thing 13 and following the link to the "sweets" tag I found a blog on cooking and food with a few adventures of the author's private life thrown in called A Slice of Cherry Pie. It's not library related but a personal interest. The author lives in the UK and has a very delightful style. I added her to my Google Reader and I even commented on a post in which she talks about how excited she is to have such an international following. I look forward to following her blog.

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