Monica's blog

I really enjoyed Jill Walker’s article, “Weblogs: Learning in Public.”  Her enthusiasm about blogging is contagious!

As an inexperienced blogger, I had a pretty difficult time creating my previous posts.  I spent so much time analyzing and rewriting because I was so hung up on being disagreeable with someone else’s opinion.  However, the comments I have been receiving from my fellow classmates have been very encouraging (thanks guys!) and, similar to many of Walker’s students, it is becoming easier to post knowing that people are actually reading, and hopefully enjoying, my posts.

I mentioned earlier that my initial hesitancy to write was due to a great fear of being wrong in someone’s eyes.  However, Walker’s take on comments, whether in agreement or disagreement with her posts, is so positive.  I love that she emphasizes that criticisms are usually not a means to deplete one’s sense of wellbeing, but to expand their realm of thinking.  I think it’s healthy to have an awareness that other individuals think differently than myself.  It takes me out of my bubble.

However, I do believe that there is a difference between constructive criticism and just plain evil criticism.  There will always be some blogs out there that we absolutely disagree with.  The ones that have messages that stand completely against our own value systems.  So, how do we react to these?  Is it best to fight?  I mean, no one can really see who’s typing the words.  Should we really start a war in the digital world because no one can see you and, honestly, words can’t do too much harm right?  Or wrong?  Maybe we should just leave these blogs alone.  How much energy should we be wasting on blogs that we loathe anyways?

Walker states this in her conclusion by saying, “Network literacy means linking to what other people have written and inviting comments from others, it means understanding a kind of writing that is a social, collaborative process rather than an act of an individual in solitary. It means learning how to write with an awareness that anyone may read it: your mother, a future employer or the person whose work you’re writing about.  Yes, it’s difficult. The internet is not a game” (Walker 8-9).

There are definitely boundaries that we will have to establish for ourselves when contributing to other’s blogs as well as our own.  The issue is deciding how much is too much limitation.  We need boundaries without losing our self-expression and this might be a challenge because having a voice is what’s so fun about blogging.