It strikes me that the reason for writing a blog which is summed up by the blog category (column b) is not the same as why students or learners read the blog. Paraphrased from Guthrie, Bennett and McGough 2004, ‘Motivations for reading are internalized, enabling the individual to perform acts such as acquiring knowledge, enjoying aesthetic experiences, performing tasks, and participating in social contexts’. They go onto outline the reasons for reading.
- Curiosity, as in the desire to learn about a topic
- Aesthetic involvement, as in the enjoyment of experiencing a literary text
- Challenge, as in the orientation to learning complex ideas from text
- Recognition, as in the gratification in receiving a tangible form of reward for success in reading
- Grades, as in favorable evaluations from a teacher
They further propose that ‘motivations for reading also include: social, processes of constructing and sharing meanings in groups; and compliance, adaptation to an external goal or requirement’. These in particular would appear to hold true within the blogging world.
This is a useful insight that I will follow up especially as I creep towards the extraordinary position of becoming a professiona, corporate blogger.
ReplyDeleteIf you get 1 or 2 comments you may have what, 90-180 readers? Although all stats are skewed by the distinct narrowcasting of an OU Blog, as we are in theory writing to our tutor group or course cohort.
The 90-9-1 Rule
90% of users are "lurkers" (i.e. they read or browse but don't contribute)
9% of users contribute from time to time, but other priorities dominate their time
1% of users participate very often and account for most of the contributions
From Jacob Neilson
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/participation_inequality.html