Blog Networks

As part of the second online course I’m currently taking this session, Facilitating Online Communities, I’m meant to be posting weekly blog reflections about designated topics. ‭ ‬Unfortunately in the excitement of start of session at work and then Week One of CCK08,‭ ‬my contributions have slow to a trickle,‭ ‬and then dried up completely. ‭ ‬So in the interests of getting back on track here are my thoughts on the topic of Blog Networks.

Specifically we’re asked to discuss what characteristics we see in a Blog Network,‭ their nature, strengths and weaknesses for community development and ‬finally a review of this course as a blog network

Defining Blog Network

Given my current work on Connectivism,‭ ‬its concepts and practical implementations I see a fair amount of overlap to explore here. ‭ ‬So let me first begin by defining what I mean by the term‭ “‬network‭”‬.

As I discussed in the comments area of my post on Growing a Network,‭ ‬when I say network I refer to the broad idea of people connecting with one another.  In the case of a Blog Network therefore, the means of connecting is via blogs.

There is a difference though between blogs that discuss similar topics, and those that comprise a larger network.  So it’s important to make this distinction and discuss what it entails.

For example, there are many people who discuss politics on their blogs, but this does not necessarily constitute a network.  The same goes for edubloggers, or parent bloggers.

In my view, the characteristics that define a blog network are:

• Shared interest in a topic, activity or endeavour;
• A degree of mutual influence on one another;
• Regular interaction;

Shared Interest

Shared interest is the magnetism that draws the network together.  Inspires mutual exploration and discussion, and defines the duration of the network’s existence.  In the case of the latter, there is no rule that says networks must exist in perpetuity.  Indeed they may come together for a short time, for a specific purpose, and eventually dissolve; or perhaps transform into a something different.

In the case of politics, examples might include those interested in American or Australian Politics, Supporters of John McCain or Barrack Obama, or environmental activists.  The significance is that the subject is fairly clearly realised in the minds of the bloggers – whether formally established or by virtue of the ongoing subject matter of their posts.

Regular Interaction
In my view, one of the primary distinctions between members of a blog network and bloggers who simply discuss similar subject matter is frequency of interaction.  A blog network to me features ongoing discussion between bloggers, typically characterised by discussions in the comments area or trackbacks and cross-linking.  By necessity then, the network is also characterised by fairly regular frequency of new posts.

Mutual Influence
Continuing on the point of the latter, the third characteristic of a blog network to me is mutual influence.  Whether knowingly or otherwise, members of the network influence each others viewpoints, comprehension, and awareness – they learn from each other.  It’s important to note here that I’m not referring to educational blogs, or those with a vested interest in learning; but the notion that a natural by-product of regular interaction will be cross-pollination of ideas, sharing of knowledge, and to a lesser degree influencing of each other’s opinions and beliefs.

Strengths and Weaknesses

In my view the key advantages and disadvantages of a blog network both come down to its distributed nature.  Unlike discussion forums, in which all discussion and interaction occurs in a single space, blog networks spread the conversation across a distributed web of blogs.

In terms of advantages this does several things:

Provide personal space – blogs establish a personal space where individuals can – at their own discretion – explore their thoughts and ideas, express their opinions, and discuss issues that are important to them

Empower the individual – Whereas the rules of discussion forums are subject to the consensus of the community, on a blog the blogger makes the rules.  This includes commenting and moderation policies, as well as visibility settings (who can see what).  There is also a clear hierarchy between the thoughts of the blogger and those of readers and commenters.

Tie content to the blogger, not the network – Thirdly, the contributions of the blogger are easily and quickly distinguishable from those of the rest of the network.  This makes posts and comments portable.  If a blogger decides to leave the network, they preserve their thoughts in their own space rather than leaving them behind, as would be the case in a forum.

In terms of disadvantages:

Conversation Fracturing – The primary drawback of a blog network lay in how it conveys conversations.  Unlike forums, where an entire conversation and the contributions of many people can be encapsulated in a single thread and visible all at once, the distributed nature of blogs spreads the topic across many different locations.  This makes it very difficult to gain a quick consensus on anything.  This is true for both initial posts and any resulting discussion via commenting.

Complicates Facilitation – For facilitators the prospect of engaging with learners/participants becomes both time consuming and logistically challenging with blogs because the conversation is anywhere and everywhere.  Additionally, the nature of blogs as a personal space means rules on moderation are devolved to the blogger to decide, and the role of facilitator, moderator or educator may not be the same as it would be in a centralised space.

FOC08 as a Blog Network

In terms of assessing whether the FOC08 blogs constitute a network, my absence from the course activities over the last 3 weeks puts me at a disadvantage.  However in the interests of furthering the discussion I’d like to evaluate the course’s blogging activities against the three criteria I’ve outlined above.

Shared interest (FOC08)
In a broad sense the facilitation of online communities could be used as the shared interest, however drilling down into the detail it appears that there are in some ways some fundamental differences that prevent a cohesive network from forming.

First there is more granular interest.  Some learners, such as myself, have a specific interest in the educational aspects of communities, while others take a broader view.

Having said that there appears to be mini-networks developing around specific topical interests.  So it might be more accurate to describe the course as being comprised of several/many mini-networks rather than a single cohesive large one.

Regular Interaction (FOC08)
In my view this is where the network falls apart.  The primary vehicle for discussion in the course is – and arguably always has been – the Google Group.  Some scattered interaction is happening in small pockets in blogs, but by and large many seem to have stopped blogging with any regularity – or indeed altogether.  So too have comments and cross-linking slowed to a trickle as well.

Mutual Influence (FOC08)
Without posts, comments, and cross-linking/trackbacks there can be no mutual influence (at least inasmuch as the blog network is concerned).  I would suspect that this is taking place in the discussion forum however, which continues to see fairly active discussion.

Conclusion:

As far as this course is concerned, in my view a blog network does not currently exist on a broad scale.  This is not to say that none exist at all – as I said there seem to be mini-networks slowly forming amongst specific collections of students.  Furthermore, blog networks take time to develop, so it’s conceivable that they may start to emerge in the future.

However for the moment at least, with the bulk of interaction taking place in the Google Group, contributions to blogs (both posts and comments) appears to be a secondary or tertiary concern for many people.