I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but I note the number of blogs out there which is fantastic.
I don't blog, as I can't imagine finding the time to blog as well as have a job AND do political activism of various sorts at various times.
I know that activism isn't for everyone, for a number of reasons. But my question is the extent that blogging adds to or is an alternative to activism. I have no problem who feel that their strength is writing rather than organising. Or is blogging an aid to activism?
Peter North
Department of Geography
School for Environmental Sciences
University of Liverpool
0151 794 2849
Building the Low Carbon Economy on Merseyside
www.lowcarbonliverpool.com
www.liv.ac.uk/geography/research/lowcarboneconomy/index.htm
Local Money
http://greenbooks.co.uk/store/local-money-p-320.html?osCsid=53cafffb104745d08678d499c824626e
________________________________________
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of JONES, Owain [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 03 March 2011 02:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: geog blogs
This has been interesting exchange and would very welcome Hilary’s collation of all blogs mentioned
The overall number of blogs (and other means of webcasting) is often cited as the democratisation of authorship, information, communication etc, etc, but this only really works if all these blogs are being read!!! (The whole world writing and no one reading is not much good)
Do (you) bloggers monitor how often your blogs are read and/or commented upon ? If so, please could a few people say how much traffic their blogs get? as a sort of indicative sample?
Cheers
Dr Owain Jones
Senior Research Fellow Countryside & Community Research Institute<http://www.ccri.ac.uk/> / Contact Details<http://www.ccri.ac.uk/TopMenu/ContactDetails.htm>
Publications at Academia.edu/OwainJones<http://westengland.academia.edu/OwainJones/Papers>
Chair of the Royal Geographical Society Research Group on Children, Youth and Families<http://www.gcyf.org.uk/>
Associate Editor Journal of Children’s Geographies<http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14733285.asp>
Committee Socal and Cultural Geography Research Group http://www.scgrg.org/
Priston Festival<http://www.priston.org.uk/festival/>; http://www.land2.uwe.ac.uk/ojones.htm;
Alternative email (UWE)<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Mobile: 07871 572969
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Austin Kocher
Sent: 03 March 2011 13:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: geog blogs
Dear Bloggers and Blog-Nots,
I hope we can all appreciate the irony and humor of debating the value of internet blogs in *2011*. (Next topic: "is bipedalism is overrated?")
Austin Kocher
bipedal organism, light blogger, and graduate student (evolutionary accomplishments in that order)
On Mar 3, 2011, at 8:09 AM, WATSON Allan wrote:
Great to see this discussion.
Just quickly, a few more to add to the list: my own blog (http://allanwatson.wordpress.com/), and others I follow include Andrew Leyshon’s (http://andrewleyshon.wordpress.com/), Oli Mould’s (http://tacity.co.uk/), and Karen Lai’s (http://karenlai.wordpress.com/).
Kind regards,
Allan Watson
Lecturer in Human Geography
Department of Geography
Faculty of Sciences
Staffordshire University
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffs ST4 2DE
Tel: +44 (0)1782 294441
E-mail: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Latest news, research and publications: http://allanwatson.wordpress.com<http://allanwatson.wordpress.com/>
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Hilary Geoghegan
Sent: 03 March 2011 11:25
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: geog blogs
Dear all, I am happy to collate all these geography blogs on my site. Unless someone has done this already? Will circulate link when this has been done. Please also see the site for our climate project: http://climatetolandscape.wordpress.com/ Hilary
________________________________
From: "Cook, Ian" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thu, 3 March, 2011 10:30:22
Subject: Re: geog blogs
I'd like to add to Stuart's list...
As a means to write collaboratively.
I was commissioned to write a series of 'Geographies of food' reviews for Progress in Human Geography. The third review has just been published, which has 26 authors, who took part in a blog conversation at http://food-afters.blogspot.com/ which was the basis for the written paper:
Ian Cook, Kersty Hobson, Lucius Hallett IV, Julie Guthman, Andrew Murphy, Alison Hulme, Mimi Sheller, Louise Crewe, David Nally, Emma Roe, Charles Mather, Paul Kingsbury, Rachel Slocum, Shoko Imai, Jean Duruz, Chris Philo, Henry Buller, Mike Goodman, Allison Hayes-Conroy, Jessica Hayes-Conroy, Lisa Tucker, Megan Blake, Richard Le Heron, Heather Putnam, Damian Maye and Heike Henderson (2011) Geographies of food: ‘Afters’. Progress in Human Geography 35, 104-120
A new 'afters' team is currently blogging up a 'cultural geographies' of food chapter at http://foodculturalgeographies.wordpress.com/
Some reflection on the use of blogging to write collaboratively was published on a website that I created for a seminar:http://writingcollaboration.wordpress.com/2-myour-writing-2/2f-blog-paper/ where I was able to invite co-authors to comment on what I'd written about the work that we did together. Their/our reflections on the process might be helpful to other considering the use of blogging to write together, as would the following paper:
Sakellariadis, A., Chromy, S., Martin, V., Speedy, J., Trahar, S., Williams, S. and Wilson, S. 2008: Friend and foe? Technology in a collaborative writing group. Qualitative Inquiry 14, 1205–22
I was encouraged to try blogging after seeing a post on CGF pointing towards http://globalhighered.wordpress.com edited by Kris Olds and Susan Robertson (which I've recently found out is also read by people in my University's International Office) . I know a lot of people (academics and students) who have been encouraged to blog, facebook and tweet after becoming involved in the student protests at the end of last year.
So, I wonder if there's room for a wider discussion here about new media/web2.0 and academic work. Many of the reasons to blog are similar to our reasons to make websites (not just to disseminate our work, but to involve others in its creation), use social media, tweet, make and post videos, and combine these things.
Cheers
Ian
________________________________________
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behalf Of Stuart Elden [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 4:04 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: geog blogs
Why bother with blogs?
As a notebook, as David Murakami Wood, suggested; as a noticeboard (I post/link to quite a lot of stuff that I think might be of interest); as a place where I can say things that I probably wouldn't work up into publications, but which I think are interesting nonetheless; to publicise my own work, talks, etc.; as place that I can try out ideas and sometimes get feedback... the reasons go on.
Yes, much of it is personal (though there is much I don't write about); and might be seen as self-serving - but then so are personal websites. Nobody forces you to read them. But it's my blog, was set up for my own reasons, and the readership comes as an additional and pleasant second to that. I never expected to get regular readers, and have been quite surprised at the readership, both in terms of numbers, but also from where in the world - over 100 countries on the last count. Nothing I've written in more conventional media has come close to that.
My own blog aside, I completely disagree that they 'add nothing'. I have a long list of blogs in google reader (now that bloglines is defunct), and find them invaluable as a source of information, provocation and inspiration. I now find them far more useful than email discussion lists.
Stuart
http://progressivegeographies.wordpress.com/ <http://progressivegeographies.wordpress.com/>
________________________________
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers on behalf of David Crouch
Sent: Wed 2/03/2011 6:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: geog blogs
Hello!
why does anyone bother [blogger?] with blogs?
It seems to add nothing, but gears and joys itself on self-serving romance
David [over 42!]
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