Anyone have a blog?

[sf210]

Does anyone have a blog he/she would like to share or a recommendation or two?  I've come across some great ones about experiences as a new PhD student, but it's always by chance and unfortunately I've not saved them. I would love to follow a few - English students or grad students in general.

 

Thanks 

[dazedandbemused]

Related question: for those of you who do blog, how anonymous are you? I've been thinking about starting a blog in the fall, and I'm debating whether I should use my real name, but keep my institution hidden, or use a pseudonym but name the institution, or just keep it totally anonymous. On the one hand, I'd like my friends and family to be able to read it, but on the other I want it to be readable for people who don't know me. Any thoughts?

[ProfLorax]

Does anyone have a blog he/she would like to share or a recommendation or two?  I've come across some great ones about experiences as a new PhD student, but it's always by chance and unfortunately I've not saved them. I would love to follow a few - English students or grad students in general.

 

Thanks 

I'm a big fan of ProfHacker. It doesn't focus on PhD students specifically; rather, it gives ideas and tips about how to manage a life in academia. Both the posts and the conversations in the comments section are pretty insightful.

 

 

Related question: for those of you who do blog, how anonymous are you? I've been thinking about starting a blog in the fall, and I'm debating whether I should use my real name, but keep my institution hidden, or use a pseudonym but name the institution, or just keep it totally anonymous. On the one hand, I'd like my friends and family to be able to read it, but on the other I want it to be readable for people who don't know me. Any thoughts?

I blog; it's not anonymous. I blog about issues that are related to my research interests, but on a blog, I can write about those topics in a much more casual and personal way. Fortunately, the blog genre actually fits well with my interests in feminist theory and rhetoric; both blogging and feminist writing value personal connections and accessible language. 

[Monochrome Spring]

Related question: for those of you who do blog, how anonymous are you? I've been thinking about starting a blog in the fall, and I'm debating whether I should use my real name, but keep my institution hidden, or use a pseudonym but name the institution, or just keep it totally anonymous. On the one hand, I'd like my friends and family to be able to read it, but on the other I want it to be readable for people who don't know me. Any thoughts?

 

I've recently started a blog. I'm relatively anonymous, but I make a point not to write anything that someone could personally find offensive. I don't make a point to say who I am or list the names of people I know or my institution, but I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone found out about it.

[toasterazzi]

Does anyone have a blog he/she would like to share or a recommendation or two?  I've come across some great ones about experiences as a new PhD student, but it's always by chance and unfortunately I've not saved them. I would love to follow a few - English students or grad students in general.

 

Thanks 

 

I have a blog: http://dreamsofequality.wordpress.com/. I haven't updated in a few months because the end of the semester got hectic, but I'll get back to it soon. If you look in my sidebar, I have the blogs I follow on there linked. Not all of them are grad students, but some of them are. Beyond that, I also check Grad Hacker on occasion.

 

Related question: for those of you who do blog, how anonymous are you? I've been thinking about starting a blog in the fall, and I'm debating whether I should use my real name, but keep my institution hidden, or use a pseudonym but name the institution, or just keep it totally anonymous. On the one hand, I'd like my friends and family to be able to read it, but on the other I want it to be readable for people who don't know me. Any thoughts?

 

I'm semi-anonymous on my blog. Like there are some distinguishing factors, but I don't use my name or anybody's full names on there. My blog isn't strictly academic and I try to keep most of the things that come up with my name in Google searches fairly academic-ish lol.

[dazedandbemused]

I have a blog: http://dreamsofequality.wordpress.com/. I haven't updated in a few months because the end of the semester got hectic, but I'll get back to it soon. If you look in my sidebar, I have the blogs I follow on there linked. Not all of them are grad students, but some of them are. Beyond that, I also check Grad Hacker on occasion.

Oh wow, I definitely have your blog bookmarked, although I don't remember when that happened. I must have enjoyed it at some point though! I'll definitely look forward to your future stuff.

[toasterazzi]

Haha there was a thread on here at some point about blogging like last year I think, so maybe you got it there? 

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

Here's a few suggestions that you might like:

 

http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/

http://emilyjanuary.wordpress.com/

http://101books.net/2013/05/14/why-i-disagree-with-critics-of-the-new-gatsby-film/

 

http://persephonewrites.wordpress.com/

http://helpfromcyranette.wordpress.com/

 

Edited May 16, 2013 by Rose Egypt

[sf210]

Excellent. Thanks all!!

[harvardlonghorn]

I started a blog a few weeks ago: http://harvardlonghorn.wordpress.com I've only done a few posts thus far but haven't decided how anonymous I plan on staying. However, I'm pretty mindful of the things I'm posting as well so I would be okay if classmates figured out who I was. 

[Roquentin]

I've contributed a few posts to a scholarly blog run by a large Canadian research project. It was RA work for me, so I did not post anonymously. I try to be quite careful about my web presence, though - I would never contribute to a non-scholarly blog or forum if I could not preserve my anonymity. The professional perils are too great.

 

For example, a colleague of mine was looking at this forum a few months ago and found a snarky, self-entitled post by someone who will apparently be entering our department's MA program this September. In her post, this young lady expressed her concern that our department is not prestigious enough for her and that her PhD aspirations might be undermined by taking a degree with us (objectively speaking, her concerns are spurious, but you can imagine the defensiveness her attitude fostered). She also identified her research focus and, thereby, herself.

 

My colleague sent her post around to many of our current PhDs, and we all had a good laugh at her expense. Unfortunately, she'll enter our department with a wee bit of a stigma. Now, this example of risky internet behavior had very minor repercussions. However, if this future MA had instead been an aspiring postdoc, adjunct, or TT faculty member and posted similarly slanted and self-identifying posts, I imagine that the consequences could have been much more severe. I’m sure that there are ample examples of that type of thing being discussed out there on the interwebs...

 

Anyway, my humble advice to non-anonymous bloggers would be to exercise due professional caution. A limited web presence is better than a crummy web presence.

[ProfLorax]

I think that much can be said about the risks of a public web presence. But what about the benefits? As academics, our jobs aren't just to research, but to put our research out to the public. The primary way of doing this is through traditional publication, but for smaller projects or when building up to a publication, blogging can be a tool to hash out ideas with other scholars (see ProfHacker's post by Anastasia Salter about using Tumblr for research). I can't help but wonder if hiring committees in the future (and possibly present) are looking for professors who have a strong web presence, who are writing and researching in the public's eye. Also, Twitter is becoming the chief tool for conference navigation and discussion. This past year, I had several tweets retweeted at a major conference; not only did that build my ego, but it also put my name out there in association with a professional organization.

 

I'm not saying that everybody should go and sign up for a Tumblr account right now. But if you are tempted to start a blog, I do believe that having a strong, positive, and productive web presence could actually help you in the future job search. While I agree that having a crummy web presence is the worst, I would say that having no web presence follows closely behind. So, as long as you follow the cardinal rule of civilized Internet discourse (don't be a dick), having a blog and/or Twitter account associated with your real name could actually help you connect with fellow scholars, get your ideas out there, and build a positive reputation around your name and your work. 

 

Lastly, the don't be a dick rule applies even when posting anonymously. As Roquentin points out, it's easy to figure out the identity of a poster with just a few key details. 

[Two Espressos]

For example, a colleague of mine was looking at this forum a few months ago and found a snarky, self-entitled post by someone who will apparently be entering our department's MA program this September. In her post, this young lady expressed her concern that our department is not prestigious enough for her and that her PhD aspirations might be undermined by taking a degree with us (objectively speaking, her concerns are spurious, but you can imagine the defensiveness her attitude fostered). She also identified her research focus and, thereby, herself.

 

Ah, now you've piqued my interest!  Hm...

[Roquentin]

Ah, now you've piqued my interest!  Hm...

 

Her post was such a pleasant reminder of the impetuousness of youth. I look forward to meeting her in September to quietly judge her against the wunderkinder that our lowly department has fostered over the past few years. Haha, no, no, I’ll be gentle and forgiving, of course.

[nhswrestle]

Interesting thread...I have articles published on various bodybuilding and fitness websites under my real name. I'm also sponsored by a fitness apparel company and my photo on their team page is me shirtless and flexing (yay meatheads in academia!). I won't be applying to PhD programs for another 2-3 years (after I finish my MA), so I'll probably leave things as is for the time being. 

 

However, I assume this would count as a negative web presence lol?

[Datatape]

Interesting thread...I have articles published on various bodybuilding and fitness websites under my real name. I'm also sponsored by a fitness apparel company and my photo on their team page is me shirtless and flexing (yay meatheads in academia!). I won't be applying to PhD programs for another 2-3 years (after I finish my MA), so I'll probably leave things as is for the time being. 

 

However, I assume this would count as a negative web presence lol?

 

I don't know, I might have to see said picture to judge.

 

[CageFree]

I'm a big fan of ProfHacker. It doesn't focus on PhD students specifically; rather, it gives ideas and tips about how to manage a life in academia. Both the posts and the conversations in the comments section are pretty insightful.

 

http://www.gradhacker.org/ - more grad-school related

 

Also this one: http://historying.org/