How to write an academic analytic blog post

As I mentioned previously, this is a blog written and maintained by my computer mediated communication class. Part of the class requires students to contribute (depending on the class content) as either a group or an individual. So what goes into writing an "analytical" or "academic" blog post? How might it be different than a reporter's or a personal, special interest?

Well, first, the audience may be reading the blog post for a different reason than a personal or reporter's blog. They are not looking for the story only (although you may want to use a story approach to your writing). Like a reporter, an analytic or academic blog post will want supporting information. Unlike a report, however, an academic or analytic blog reader would like to have your educated input, either interpreting data/stories, creating a theory or hypothesis (based on your analysis of the data), and/or explaining how something is important and/or will impact the reader. This is partly opinion (based on analysis) backed up with supporting information. Using the basics of argumentation (claim-warrant-impact or claim-warrant-data), your reader should be able to logically follow your analysis.

Mechanics

When writing a blog post for Blogger, you have two options: Compose Mode and HTML.  If you comfortable using HTML, then HTML mode gives you more control over how your blog will look.   The majority of users, however, find the compose mode simple to follow.

Some of the features in compose mode you may want to use: The box on the tool bar on top that says "Normal" can be changed to heading, subheading, and minor heading. However, unless you want an entire paragraph enlarged and bold, you will need to make sure there is a space between the heading and your paragraphs.

You can link your blog to supporting information (as I did above, linking the text in blue to the Purdue OWL site).  This gives your reader choice in whether they want to access original supporting information or to take your word for it. Click on the Link button on the tab above.

You can also indent information you might want to import from another site (a long quote in most academic papers) Click on the quote mark on the left side of the tool bar, then cut and paste the section you want to include, click on the quote mark again (which closes the quote).  You should then put the author and/or website in parenthesis at the end of the quote and link the author's name to the original site.

Finally, you might want to include graphics such as a graph or table. The easiest way to do this is to create a GIF file of the graph or table (save as GIF) then use the picture feature (button that looks like a picture of the mountains on the tool bar at the top).

Style

When writing for a blog, there are some things you need to keep in mind:

• Readers may be accessing blog on a cell phone or mobile device
• Readers may come back to reread portions of the blog
• Readers may just skim to ensure your post is what they are looking for

With this in mind, the blog post style may be different than an academic paper. Specifically:

• Headings and subheadings help to identify relevant material.
• Material under a heading should not be more than one computer screen.
• You should try to keep the length of a paragraph to 2 or 3 lines so they are easier to read on a mobile device. This is not always possible so make sure it still makes sense.
• Use lists and bullet points to make it easier to skim
• Make the sentences shorter, but not just declarative.  Questions help to break up a page and change the style. Linking words also help.
• Make the tone professional, yet conversational. You might want to read it out loud.
• Make sure you have checked grammar and spelling.  A mistake here or there will not lose a reader, but many mistakes and typos makes you lose your credibility.  Proof read in the "view blog" format and then go back and edit.
• Use white space to make it easier for your reader to skim and return.
• Include relevant resources at the end, either a bibliography or references with links.
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Sharing your blog post

So now you've written your blog post. It's really good and you want others to see it. How do you do that?

First, you use "labels", "tags", or "hashtags".  Under Post Settings to the right of the screen is a button called "Labels". Click on this and input key words for your post. For example, for this post I will include the label "student blogs""academic blogs""writing blog posts".  I will also include the hashtag #cmc.  This means when someone is searching using any of those key words, they will be able to find my post.

Next, I will share this post on RELEVANT social media sites.  If you use twitter, linkedin, or facebook for academic or professional reasons, you will want to share the link to your blog post. My facebook account is mostly used for interaction so posting this link on facebook would be inappropriate.

On twitter, I will post the link to 4 communities that I know are interested in this topic (#phdchat, #ecrchat, #adjunctchat, and #acwri).  In addition, I am a member of two academic communities: Academia.edu and Researchgate.net.  I will be uploading a copy of this post.

Finally, I will check as to how well received this was and take that into consideration for my next blog post.