Thing #4 Post:
If I had to describe the writing style of most blogs, I would call it conversational. Usually a post begins with an opinion, a discovery, or maybe a question. The intent of a post is to invite response, and sometimes the nature of the subject is quite passionate! The lengths of posts vary depending on what the writer or responder wants to say. This type of reading is very different since it involves a back and forth dialogue which has the potential to go just about anywhere. In some blogs, two or three individuals tend to dominate the discourse, with others piping in with agreements or arguments. This happens in Why I Don't Assign Homework. Others blogs might pose a question and many different readers offer observations and thoughts which help clarify the issue. I wonder if blogging has started to influence other modes of writing. In the last few years I have read several novels that tell a story from more than one view as it moves from chapter to chapter. Just as a person reading a blog is receiving topical information from many sources, a reader of a novel that changes narrative each chapter will come away with a more multi-faceted understanding. I think blogging definitely facilitates learning. If a topic is interesting to a student, and especially if he wants to take a stand, he will be forced to think about what he knows and how best to express it in order to make a valid contribution to the blog.