Entry #1: One toe in...

I am very new to the whole blogging arena. Starting off as a new blogger I really have to ask myself, what do I think about blogs? I’ll start with what I know about blogs, nothing. I know that blogs are an account of people's lives, short stories about daily life, informative stores, tasty recipes, or complete nonsense. That small amount of knowledge only scratches the surface when it comes to the vast world of blogs. I only have one toe in the icy, near endless, waters of the blogging internet space.

With that in mind, I realize that I need to gain some experience. I need to educate myself on the inner workings of blogs and I think the best way to do that is to review how other people blog. I need to see what works, what I like and what I don’t like, in order to be a more effective blogger.

The first blog on my list (Chosen randomly from The Top 50 Blogger Blogs) is called Althouse. The blog is written by The University of Wisconsin Law School’s professor Ann Althouse. Ann writes mostly about topics related to law and policy. I really like how she presents a topic and gives links and information about it but she doesn’t offer very much opinion based writing, instead she goes for the inquisitive “what do you think?” approach. This tactic allows her readers to discuss and present ideas of their own in the comment section.

The next blog on my list is one that is more relevant to my blog but is very formal and would be considered more of a professional blog.  It is called the Medical LabAcademy and it is a site/blog dedicated to helping medical technicians pass their certification exams. The blog is very well done and uses common language that is professional but not overly academic. It interests me personally and there is a lot of useful information presented but it does not reflect how I want my blog to be. The content is targeted to a specific audience and does not allow outsiders a casual approach to lab science.

The last blog that I will be looking at is called Indexed. This blog was definitely my favorite. The blog is entirely made up of posts written on index cards. These small cartoons are often very humorous and provide great entertainment. The cards have charts or graphs on them and usually provide a sarcastic view on life circumstances.

After reviewing these blogs I think I got a better sense of what blogging is all about. The authors on these pages were really passionate about what they wrote even though each blog had a different voice and audience. I think I can use what I saw and read to help shape my blog and make it informative, entertaining, and enjoyable.