New PR voices in blogdom
January 28, 2008 by Gary Schlee
Just as I find myself slowing down on the posting-frequency front (I plead guilty to distractions: teaching a new course, setting up internships, interviewing applicants … work), it’s great to see our students revving up in this space.
As part of their Online PR course, Centennial students are required to set up a blog. For some that’s daunting. For others, it’s exhilarating. You can follow some of their experiences by checking out their blogs through the blogroll on the course blog.
It’s still too early to determine how helpful it is to have our students blog. Karen Russell at the University of Georgia has blogged about a blogging requirement for students and has even produced a paper about Using Weblogs in Public Relations Education, for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Her experiences have been helpful to those of us delving into this area.
Similarly, Robert French of Auburn University was one of the first to require PR students to blog. His prblogs site provides a great opportunity to students looking to launch a blog. In fact, it’s great for PR educators, too. A quick look at the URL for this page will tell you that A Class Act resides on prblogs.org.
New practitioners advising their bosses and clients about social media as possible PR tactics can best do that by having some hands-on experience. You learn about blogging by blogging. And, Karen’s right; it “allows students and teachers to engage in dialogue about the field.” Not only that, in the week or two since students started launching their blogs, a growing number have been visited by seasoned practitioners and educators who have joined in the conversation.
You can too, by seeing what the students have to say, then commenting. We’ll ultimately have about 40 PR students on the blogroll at onlineprcourse.wordpress.com.
8 Responses to “New PR voices in blogdom”
As Gary rightly observers, the idea of starting a blog can be quite daunting. There is already an overwhelming amount of information available on the Internet. I find myself asking what value I can add to our online conversations. To delay my own participation in the blogosphere, I am using an excuse I learned at the unconference, Talk is Cheap. Before starting a blog, respond to blogs. Before responding to blogs, read blogs. Step one is an ongoing process, but I do now feel more comfortable engaging the ideas of bloggers and the medium they wield. Step two – my first effort this comment here – is actually more challenging than I thought. Am I furthering this dialog with my musings or just filling far-flung servers with useless dribble? I suppose any response to this comment proves the former, but I’m not convinced. Step three will just have to wait.
[...] College’s Gary Schlee writes that the newest crop of students in his Online PR course are now setting up their [...]
[...] instructor who is teaching Web 2.0 is Gary Schlee, who has his students on del.icio.us and blogging. Joe Thornley has taken notice and suggests [...]
When starting my blog a few weeks ago, I shared the same sentiment with Paul. As I’ve been told by seasoned practitioners, the learning curve for blogging is a steep one. Also anxious to prove myself credible in the blogosphere, I believe publicly posting your opinion on the World Wide Web only gets easier with time. I think many of our classmates, me included, are over-thinking this opportunity. My advice, now that you know the basics – jump in, head first!
As a PR student in Gary’s class, I am glad to have this opportunity to jump into the blogsphere. I’ve always wanted to start a blog, but I didn’t have the tools. Actually, I have the tools however I was ignorant in knowing where to go to start my blog. But now I’ve started blogging – I love it and I can’t stop! I agree with Kristen, once you acquire the basics about blogging – the best way to learn is to jump in!
Dear Gary
Great blog love to read it. Maybe your students are interested in our benchmark tool for blogs? Please drop me a line (you have my e-mail).
If interested, I can give you special access to it…. its not about numbers but trust and conversation, of course
Hi from a fellow Canadian across the pond
WebUrs
http://commetrics.com/?page_id=3
[...] instructor who is teaching Web 2.0 is Gary Schlee, who has his students on del.icio.us and blogging. Joe Thornley has taken notice and suggests [...]
[...] of us don’t blog. Though having more teachers that accept such advancements in technology and also promote blogging could help where incentives don’t. It’s not that we can’t get these things, [...]