Open Writing

I have always known to censor what I put on the internet because it is permanently placed there for the world to see. That commercial where the girl keeps taking down an embarrassing photo from the school bulletin board, only for it to pop right back up every time, got its message across. If you haven’t seen that commercial disregard that last sentence. I use this discretion when I put pictures and comments on facebook and all other online websites, this blog included. If someone told me before school started that I would be writing in a blog daily I would have laughed at them because I never thought I would have my own blog on the internet. However, this English class requires blog entries so I am now aware of what I expose in each entry because I know anyone could have access to it. I would like to avoid getting into trouble over something I write in this blog therefore I read over each entry to make sure every point I make is appropriate for other people to read.

There are benefits to publishing one’s writing on the internet and I feel that we are exploiting these benefits in class. We are using the internet’s and blog’s accessibility to understand our peers ideas on certain topics discussed in class. This could have so many benefits as it allows anyone in the class to expand on their own ideas by reading their fellow students comments. This gives us a better understanding on topics we may otherwise struggle with such as rhetorical appeals and how to write our current essay. No other subject but English can give you the opportunity to see every other students understanding and approach to a certain topic discussed in class which is a major benefit to writing in a blog every week. Also other people, including students in different colleges with similar assignments, can view these blogs which may help them in their own English class. Due to these benefits I would say that we are full exploiting the use of public blogs.

Some students may be uncomfortable with the idea of twenty of their peers, and in a sense the world, viewing and judging their writing. This could be considered a challenge to the openness of these blogs and hurt a person’s writing abilities. I know at first I was hesitant about the idea of every other student reading my blogs and making comments on them but we have a nice class that only gives constructive criticism about each blog. Or they say really nice things which make writing these blogs sort of fun. It also allows me to read and write nice things about other people’s blogs which is also fun. So the challenge of being hesitant about the publicity of each blog can be addressed by having confidence in your own writing abilities and taking the time to read other students blogs which may sound similar to your own. Open writing can be difficult but the benefits it presents, such as constructive criticism and new ideas are great rewards.