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Blog Exercises: If You Wouldn’t Do It In Public, Would You Do It Online?

December 3, 2013 – 4:01 pm

If you wouldn’t do it in public, would you do it online? Unfortunately for many, the answer is a resounding YES! However, most of us have some…whatever you call it…oh, yeah, class, ethics, moral fiber, manners – etiquette. I’m not the Dear Abby of social norms, but I’m first in line to tell you that […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging tips, code of ethics, comment spam, comments, content, cussing, dumb ideas, ethics, interactions, interactivity, language, moral value, privacy, security, sharing, social media, social web, spam, swearing, web writing | Comments (2)

Blog Exercises: Expanding Your Social Web Connections

November 16, 2013 – 4:58 am

“I’m following you because you are a Doctor Who fan.” I was stunned at those words. Yes, I’m a Doctor Who fan. I’m a fan of science fiction in general, but this year is an exceptional one for Doctor Who fans. It’s the 50th Anniversary of the first episode, a legendary event in television history. […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging tips, connections, hobbies, hobby, networking, relationships, seo, social, social media, social web | Comments (5)

Blog Exercises: Ingredients of a Professional Site

November 9, 2013 – 4:41 am

Two questions on the same day triggered this blog exercise. I was asked by a student in my WordPress class recently what defined a “professional blog.” I told him it was one that met all the criteria for a well-designed, well-formed site that met web standards. This is a good definition, but lacked specifics. A […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Web Design, WordPress, Writing | Tags: authority, blog authority, blog exercises, blogging tips, brand, branding, content, credibility, design, good content, good site, professional site, reputation, social media, social web, trust, Web Design, what makes a good site, what makes a professional site, what makes someone trust a website, wordpress | Comments (5)

Blog Exercises: Trust the Crowds

November 8, 2013 – 5:21 pm

In an October issue of “Science News,” an article on the “Deep Network” monitoring of the sea floor, reported on how the general public may monitor the sea floor through the Neptune system of underwater microphones and web cams through LIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean) (requires Flash). New discoveries have been made by citizens […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips | Tags: alturism, blog exercises, blogging tips, campaigns, competitions, contests, crowd source, crowd sourcing, interactivity, readers, social media, social web | Comments (7)

Blog Exercises: To Comment or Not to Comment

September 24, 2013 – 4:28 am

In the September 20, 2013, issue of the New York Times, an article caught my eye called “No Comments.” It is also available on Umano via mobile app or desktop for a listen. The article by Michael Erard discusses comments on the web, including a long look back at the history of interactivity on the […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blog history, blogging history, comments, communication, history, history of comments, history of the web, interactivity, social, social web, trackbacks, usenet | Comments (4)

Blog Exercises: You Shouldn’t Have Started with a Question If You Didn’t Want it Answered

August 28, 2013 – 11:56 am

In the movie, Big Fish, the son tries to describe to his father how little he knows him. Will Bloom: You know about icebergs, dad? Senior Ed Bloom: Do I? I saw an iceberg once. They were hauling it down to Texas for drinking water. They didn’t count on there being an elephant frozen inside. […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: big fish, blog exercises, blogging tips, comments, communication, conversation, dialog, interaction, interactivity, metaphors, questions, quotes, social web | Comments (1)

Blog Exercises: The Daily Social Meme

August 22, 2013 – 4:07 am

Did you know that there are specific memes for each day of the week in the blogosphere and social web? Today is your chance to play around with some of these themed days of the week in this blog exercise. A themed day, or meme, is a tradition of sorts. It involves publishing and sharing […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging prompts, blogging tips, comments, content, daily memes, editorial calendar, interactivity, memes, planning, schedule, social, social media, social memes, social web, web writing, writing prompts, writing tips | Comments (6)

Blog Exercises: I Don’t Have Any Comments

August 16, 2013 – 4:02 am

I hear this complaint frequently from new and long time bloggers. “I don’t have any comments. How can I get more comments?” First of all, let me explain something and I want you to read closely. You don’t want comments. Yes, that’s right. You do not want comments. At least not comments from anyone. If […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips | Tags: audience, blog conversation, blog exercises, comment box, comment spam, comments, conversation, demographics, dialog, interactivity, social web, web writing, writing for the web, writing for your audience | Comments (11)

Blog Exercises: Blog Your Hobby

July 10, 2013 – 4:36 am

The following blog exercise is inspired by Janet Williams of Janet’s Notebook and her post on “Unique British post boxes: share your hobby.” Who would have thought that an article on UK post boxes would bring post box enthusiasts and historians out of the woodwork to her blog? My interaction with Ruby brings me to […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: audience, blog exercises, blogging tips, common interest, commonality, community building, connections, friends, hobbies, hobby, how to blog, like minds, readers, relationships, sharing, social, social media, social web, web writing, Writing, writing for the web | Comments (7)

Blog Exercises: Sharing Without Context

June 24, 2013 – 4:19 am

I got a trackback to one of my posts yeseterday. I was so excited that someone thought what I wrote was worth sharing. Eager to read what they wrote about my article, I paused in my busy schedule to race to their site to find out if I’d changed a life, influenced them in some […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, bloggers, community, community building, link to bloggers, linking, links, networking, reblog, reblogging, referrals, reviews, share, sharing, social, social web, trackbacks | Comments (8)

Blog Exercises: Awesome by Association

June 12, 2013 – 4:27 am

In “Two WordPress.com Experts and One Series of Blog Work,” Kinna Reads featured myself and my friend, timethief of one cool site (lowercase intentional). I’m honored and grateful, but more importantly, I’m awesome by association. My friend, timethief, started blogging in 2005. When she switched to WordPress.com, her life changed as did mine and hundreds […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: assocation, blog exercises, blog writing, connect, connections, friends, letter of recommendation, link, linking, one cool site, recommendation, reference, referral, social, social web, timethief, trackback, web writing, Writing, writing for the web | Comments (13)

Blog Exercises: Comments Policy

May 3, 2013 – 4:16 am

We started with the Bloggers Code of Ethics in our blog exercises on site policies, starting you off on the right foot by knowing where you will draw your lines in the sand when it comes to your rights and responsibilities as a blogger. In this Blog Exercise, we are going to tackle the next […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, blogging tips | Tags: blog comments, blog exercises, blogging tips, comment guidelines, comment policy, comments, comments policy, guidelines, interaction, interactivity, legal policies, policies, relationships, site policies, social, social media, social web | Comments (14)

Blog Exercises: How to Link to Comments

April 29, 2013 – 4:38 am

Do you have brilliantly intelligent and thoughtful commenters? I do. I often find something someone’s left in a post comment worth writing a blog post about and quoting. In this Blog Exercise we’ll look at how to link to comments on your site and how to properly reference them and cite the original author in […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Tips, Writing | Tags: blockquote, blog exercises, citation, comment links, comment permalink, comments, credit, interactivity, link to a comment, links, permalinks, quote readers, quotes, readers, social, social web, wordpress, WordPress Tips | Comments (4)

Blog Exercises: Stand Up For Freedom of Speech

April 26, 2013 – 4:24 am

There are 400,000 words in the English language, and there are seven you can’t say on television. What a ratio that is! 399,993 to 7. They must really be baaaad. They must be OUTRAGEOUS to be separated from a group that large. “All of you words over here, you seven…baaaad words.” That’s what they told […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: bad words, blog exercises, blog writing, blogging tips, comment guidelines, comment policies, comments, content, content guidelines, culture, freedom of speech, george carlin, guidelines, interaction, interactivity, language, legal, legal policies, policies, profanity, site policies, social, social web, society, swear words, terms and conditions, words, words you cannot say on television, writers guidelines, Writing, writing for the web, writing tips | Comments (7)

Blog Exercises: The Royal We

April 17, 2013 – 4:14 am

People who refer to themselves as “yours truly.” What kind of grandiose crap is this? Some even speak of themselves in the third person. Athletes and entertainers are big on this demented shit: “I’m going to do what’s right for Leon Spinks!” I think people like this are mentally ill. And you can include those […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging tips, comments, inclusive, interaction, interactivity, pronoun, royal we, social web, voice, Writing, writing for the web | Comments (4)