Transparency, Communication and Collaboration
Starting a blog is challenging; it forces you to work, think and write in different ways. That’s why I started one here, so that I could try to harness the exciting potential a blog offers, but also so that I could learn first hand about the challenges it presents.
So, what is that makes blogs so exciting and challenging? Bill Thompson explains it well in a recent post about how blogging is transforming journalism.
It’s no longer enough to write or say something and consign any responses to the letters page or occasional ‘have your say’ programme. My students have to get used to this. They have to engage with their readers in a way that respects the shared values of the online world. They have to get used to being harshly criticised and dissected by those who disagree with them, and they have to accept that sometimes the people reading their work will know more about the subject than they do and may have a valuable contribution to make to their thinking.
And the challenges and opportunities for VCOs…?
Transparency – blogging throughout the life of a project, and particularly through the development stages allows the outside world to see what you’re doing, comment and feedback. However, this forces us to put half-formed ideas into a public space and invite comment and criticism, which can be very scary.
Communication – blogging is a continuous and very human form of communication. VCOs understand the importance of communicating our work and achievements to external stakeholders. Blogs can reach new audiences in new ways (especially young people). However, blogs require different language to an impact report or fundraising leaflet. And they are two-way conversations, not one-way advertisements.
Collaboration – blogging is like having a group conversation with people who read your blog and with other bloggers. Perhaps blogs could facilitate communication between VCOs who are working in similar fields, allowing ideas and thoughts to be exchanged between many different players. However, blogs are conversations in a public space, and requires us to be more open than we often tend to be.
What do you think?