5 Responses to “The benefits of academic blogging – should you enter the blogosphere?!”

  1. Darren Lilleker

    Visitors to my blog will notice a peak of activity and a recent trough of inactivity, and this is the caveat to starting an academic blog. Time!! There are a few basic rules for blogging. Keep it simple and engaging; Keep it topical and interesting; Keep updating. At the peak of blogging I probably spent 1-2 hours per day locating and researching stories, composing the post, finding accompanying visuals and (sadly) fighting with the formatting. It is time which can detract from other activities. There were clear benefits, however, as Julie notes. But do consider the time it will take and if starting a blog consider how often you wnat to post and set aside that time to blog.

  2. Christos Gatzidis

    Julie makes some very valid points on this; the audience for an academic blog will inevitably be very different to the audience for a scientific publication through the usual routes and it is important to try and adjust to that.

    For my blog I have attempted (to the best of my abilities anyway) to include a healthy mix of not just research news but also other interesting related developments (not just in the world of academia/academic research). As a result of this I often refer undegraduate students to my blog as well as industry contacts and find that it makes for a very good calling card.