Debriefing myself: a noobs experience after 100-ish days of blogging

June 6, 2007

It’s been just over 100 days since this blog was started. Below are my top 10 observations. I hope you’ll find them valuable.

1. It’s difficult to put yourself out there but easier to connect with others once you have.

2. Writing is easier than writing & formulating an opinion and both are difficult in the fast-paced environment of blogging.

3. Blogging makes me feel as if my clothes are too big and I’m trying to grow into them. This is a good thing. No one wants tight clothes : )

4. There is a palpable difference between reading/lurking and writing that I had not fully anticipated. The difference is in the learning experience. If I were to return to a corporate training job I would blog and get others blogging. Culture be damned!

5. More learning takes place when you blog (and respond) with sincerity and thick skin.

6. I use “I” too much. [Note to self: Use of first person – listen to MS Word & consider revising…unless post is about debriefing myself – good grief.

7. Managing the gray area of business and “just Janet” is always just under the surface when writing as an employee.

8. The good bloggers have a style and stick to it – some blog about personal experiences, some give opinions and ideas on things found, news bloggers aggregate for their niche; some are true experts in the space. There are many good bloggers in the education/training space. The connections among the corporate and K-12/higher education spaces offer tremendous potential for growth.

9. Blogging technology is easy to use. You can experiment and recover from mistakes easily. Even widget-itis. There is a widget for everything. If not, ask someone and they’ll make you one. There is probably an”I” widget.

10. Blogging is time-consuming; both reading and writing and is sometimes not viewed as real work.

Photo: Jon Helgason | Agency: Dreamstime.com

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  • http://learningvisions.blogspot.com/ Cammy

    Great list, Janet!

    For me, I was not prepared for the fact that blogging would become somewhat of an obsessive experience. I lie in bed at night writing drafts in my head. I have had dreams about fellow bloggers — very professional dreams, of course — people I have never met, but we’re now sitting around having actual conversations. The other night my entire dream world was taken up with conversations on PLEs. It was a little much.

    The positive is that learning process is much more integrated into my daily life (and apparently my dream life as well), but sometimes I can’t stop thinking about it. This has dissipated a bit the longer I’ve been doing it, but my thought process has definitely changed.

  • http://learningvisions.blogspot.com Cammy

    Great list, Janet!

    For me, I was not prepared for the fact that blogging would become somewhat of an obsessive experience. I lie in bed at night writing drafts in my head. I have had dreams about fellow bloggers — very professional dreams, of course — people I have never met, but we’re now sitting around having actual conversations. The other night my entire dream world was taken up with conversations on PLEs. It was a little much.

    The positive is that learning process is much more integrated into my daily life (and apparently my dream life as well), but sometimes I can’t stop thinking about it. This has dissipated a bit the longer I’ve been doing it, but my thought process has definitely changed.

  • http://heyjude.wordpress.com/ Judy O’Connell

    I know just how you feel!! I’ve been blogging for 12 months and I KNOW that blogging has become a core part of my professional life, as well as something I daydream about as I think about things I want to share! Keep up the great thoughts, and keep writing. Your list certainly works for me – and it covers all the good, the bad and the ugly :-)

  • http://heyjude.wordpress.com Judy O’Connell

    I know just how you feel!! I’ve been blogging for 12 months and I KNOW that blogging has become a core part of my professional life, as well as something I daydream about as I think about things I want to share! Keep up the great thoughts, and keep writing. Your list certainly works for me – and it covers all the good, the bad and the ugly :-)

  • http://eelearning.wordpress.com/ Dave Lee

    Janet:

    Great post. I’ve been in the edublogosphere for 3.5 years and I would concur with 9 of your 10 points. As more and more learning professionals become bloggers it’s amazed me how powerful the potential to learn constantly. But the time and effort are indeed humbling. My clothes are so baggy I sometimes worry I’m the emperor with no clothes!

    The one point I disagree with you on is your point regarding using “I” too much. As you point out blogs are very personal. For better or worse, each of us puts ourselves out there “naked” (per Scoble/Israel) and real. Removing the “I” would mortally wound the core of what blogging has come to mean.

    Keep being Janet – seems alot of people like it just as you blog it.

    Dave

  • http://eelearning.wordpress.com Dave Lee

    Janet:

    Great post. I’ve been in the edublogosphere for 3.5 years and I would concur with 9 of your 10 points. As more and more learning professionals become bloggers it’s amazed me how powerful the potential to learn constantly. But the time and effort are indeed humbling. My clothes are so baggy I sometimes worry I’m the emperor with no clothes!

    The one point I disagree with you on is your point regarding using “I” too much. As you point out blogs are very personal. For better or worse, each of us puts ourselves out there “naked” (per Scoble/Israel) and real. Removing the “I” would mortally wound the core of what blogging has come to mean.

    Keep being Janet – seems alot of people like it just as you blog it.

    Dave

  • http://www.brandon-hall.com/ Janet Clarey

    Cammy, you crack me up. Dreaming about PLEs? I’ve got to find one of those dream interpretation sites so we can dissect that one ; ) Seriously, it’s great that blogging is helping you integrate the process of learning into daily life. I’m right there with you. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I think I’m looking at things differently because of blogging. Does that make sense? I find more ties between everyday processes and the field of education and…I want to write about it.

  • http://www.brandon-hall.com Janet Clarey

    Cammy, you crack me up. Dreaming about PLEs? I’ve got to find one of those dream interpretation sites so we can dissect that one ; ) Seriously, it’s great that blogging is helping you integrate the process of learning into daily life. I’m right there with you. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I think I’m looking at things differently because of blogging. Does that make sense? I find more ties between everyday processes and the field of education and…I want to write about it.

  • http://www.brandon-hall.com/ Janet Clarey

    Dave, what kind comments. You know, I think you’re probably rightabout “I”. But it probably depends on the type of blog too. I am going to keep my radar up the next couple of weeks and observe and rethink this.

  • http://www.brandon-hall.com Janet Clarey

    Dave, what kind comments. You know, I think you’re probably rightabout “I”. But it probably depends on the type of blog too. I am going to keep my radar up the next couple of weeks and observe and rethink this.

  • http://www.brandon-hall.com/ Janet Clarey

    Thanks Judy! Do you think blogging is considered real work? Do you blog professionally during normal work hours (if there is such a thing)? Although I can work whenever, I tend to stick with a traditional work schedule and find that I’m writing for the blog during ‘off’ hours. Just wondering…

  • http://www.brandon-hall.com Janet Clarey

    Thanks Judy! Do you think blogging is considered real work? Do you blog professionally during normal work hours (if there is such a thing)? Although I can work whenever, I tend to stick with a traditional work schedule and find that I’m writing for the blog during ‘off’ hours. Just wondering…

  • http://learningvisions.blogspot.com/ Cammy

    No, Janet. Please don’t have that dream analyzed! I definitely agree that I look at things differently as a result of blogging. There’s much more synthesis…putting things together…making connections.

    I agree with Dave. Don’t drop the “I”. It’s your voice and your perspective that makes your blog so unique; that makes this an actual conversation.

  • http://learningvisions.blogspot.com Cammy

    No, Janet. Please don’t have that dream analyzed! I definitely agree that I look at things differently as a result of blogging. There’s much more synthesis…putting things together…making connections.

    I agree with Dave. Don’t drop the “I”. It’s your voice and your perspective that makes your blog so unique; that makes this an actual conversation.

  • http://www.brickfish.com/ rachelmrich

    keep your blog coming from you…we love the personal updates…

  • http://www.brickfish.com rachelmrich

    keep your blog coming from you…we love the personal updates…

  • http://www.daveswhiteboard.com/ Dave Ferguson

    Janet,

    Not a critique of you, but a train of thought your post remarks me onto:

    It’s not the “I,” it’s the “why.”

    Sometimes I creep into my own posts more than necessary for the point I’m making.

    For instance, the main point might be to write about Joe Harless’s reason for not asking your client “What do you want people to know?” Instead of going right to Joe’s answer and its explanation, I’ll write that I heard Joe Harless or Joe Harless told me once.

    Harmless? In a given instance, probably. As a pattern, a kind of name-dropping or reflective glory (assuming people are impressed that I know Joe Harless).

    I agree completely that you should have your own voice — but at least for me it’s wise to listen to that voice and check that it’s saying something a person other than myself might want to hear.

    Having said all this, I think I’ll work on a post about Joe’s question and his suggested alternative.

  • http://www.daveswhiteboard.com Dave Ferguson

    Janet,

    Not a critique of you, but a train of thought your post remarks me onto:

    It’s not the “I,” it’s the “why.”

    Sometimes I creep into my own posts more than necessary for the point I’m making.

    For instance, the main point might be to write about Joe Harless’s reason for not asking your client “What do you want people to know?” Instead of going right to Joe’s answer and its explanation, I’ll write that I heard Joe Harless or Joe Harless told me once.

    Harmless? In a given instance, probably. As a pattern, a kind of name-dropping or reflective glory (assuming people are impressed that I know Joe Harless).

    I agree completely that you should have your own voice — but at least for me it’s wise to listen to that voice and check that it’s saying something a person other than myself might want to hear.

    Having said all this, I think I’ll work on a post about Joe’s question and his suggested alternative.

  • http://road-to-learning.blogspot.com/ Sreya Dutta

    Janet, this is a great list. Very real and motivating for a new blogger like me. Thanks for sharing them.

    Sreya

    Sreya Duttas last blog post..Action Mapping in Action

  • http://road-to-learning.blogspot.com Sreya Dutta

    Janet, this is a great list. Very real and motivating for a new blogger like me. Thanks for sharing them.

    Sreya

    Sreya Duttas last blog post..Action Mapping in Action

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