There’s providing ‘blogs’ and thern there’s providing ‘BLOGS’
I’m no stranger to trying to set up freely available online services for people to use… I’m also no stranger to watching as a couple of people drag their feet in, have a look around and quietly disappear. As a well respected edublogger once suggested to me, we’re often guilty of designing a nightclub for what is really a pubfull of people, and while a pubfull can be great fun in a pub… in a nightclub it feels worryingly quiet.
edublogs.org, however, seems to have bucked the trend. At the time of writing this there are 125 blogs there that weren’t there 3 days ago, and the rate is still picking up…
So what exactly is happening here… well, I’d put it down to three key factors:
First up this is a very specific project… it’s not trying to please or service anyone outside of education and it’s even not trying to get students in on the act. It’s just for people involved in providing, researching, writing about or working in education.
Secondly I guess I’ve built a pretty good base in the last three year in this community through incorporated subversion and incsub and that always helps 
)
But perhaps most importantly, this is a really quality product that people actually want. Let people set up Drupal blogs all day (they won’t BTW), roll out Blojsom or a range of other services and you’ll only get a limited response… but getting WordPress 1.6 at a domain like http://steve.edublogs.org with a commitment to ongoing free hosting (no commercial model to fail ) is pretty worthwhile!
Typepad et al must be a bit concerned… it’s a shame but I think that the idea of people being able to freely blog using quality tools is important for more than just blogging as we know it, it’s the development of a universal digital ID and free ownership of that which is what makes this a *really* good thing.
- Posted on: August 3rd, 2005
- 14 Comments
- Category: Just Blogging
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James,
Thank you for the free “edublog.”
Aly
It’s a pleasure :O)
“a commitment to ongoing free hosting (no commercial model to fail
) is pretty worthwhile” But haven’t we learned from the dotcom bubble that giving a lot of people something of value for free forever isn’t really sustainable? It seems a bit like having pets.com host your blog, to me.
Hi Anil,
Thanks for the comment, that’s a good point / question and one that, to be honest, I’m fairly unqualified to answer… but will try anyway
I guess my perspective is that blogs are going to be / and are becoming more than, um, blogs. They are developing into spaces for digital identity, communication etc. becoming ‘common archives’ and are pretty much the *only* way we’re realising what the true potential of the web is.
But you know that.
What it means to me is hard to articulate but goes along the lines of a belief that blogs should not be a privilege (in the way having a gym membership is) but should be a right (in the way libraries are).
Yes, that involves me persuading some organisation focused on the common good to host / support this… but that hasn’t been too hard for libraries, has it?
To revisit my ‘it’s a shame for typepad’ statement too… I don’t think this puts you in a bad situation at all… in fact it’s probably quite the opposite, there’s plenty of commercial value in building, sustaining and operating libraries…
That’s why I’m also investigating blogging based on physical location… http://blogsavvy.net/cityblogs-developing-blogging-communities-based-on-physical-relationships
Do you reckon I’m barking up the wrong tree here? I’d be seriously interested in your thoughts.
Cheers, James
James,
You cannot buy integrity, or a good name. It is not about business relationships, it is about people.
I am the Founder and President of Appanage Vison, Inc.; Burgeon Institute; Schoolhouse Publications; Field Press; and TimeWise Products.
Do you accept donations?
Aly
Absolutely
There’s a button at the bottom of the page http://edublogs.org
You sound like you’re busier than me!
Cheers, James
James:
RE: edublog supporter
I received the following error:
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Message 5302
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I would like to learn more about your ideas.
Do you host education web sites?
Aly
Congratulations James for your initiative. I think a good Public Institution should support it. A University, for example. Even better: a Government. How about a Nordic one, they should be sensible to this
I will do my best to spread the word.
Nordic, Antipodean, American… doesn’t bother me
I agree that the specificity it a contributor to the popularity of this blog and to all blogs. The broader the topics, the less interested people will become and therefore a decline in postings will follow. This blog is obviously productive because the members consist of a very narrow community of educators. These educators are so tightly woven in their ideas that a blog just fosters their need to communicate new and exciting trends in education. I have not used the facilities of any other blogs because what I have learned on this one is substantial. This blog was very specific to the educational need I had.
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