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I average…

  • 8.4 tweets per day (tpd*)

    • https://www.tweetstats.com/graphs/pen63 (images)
    • 30% retweets
    • failwhale

 

 

 

*did you even know that was a thing? "tpd" it is now.
  • 5.4 blog posts per month

    • Mostly under (self-induced) pressure of MOOCs lately
    • Concentrating on blended/online learning
    • Work-related

What does the ration of 252 tweets to 5.4 blog posts/month say about me?

The production of my twitter feed versus my blog posts sure speaks to the differences between reading and writing.

Blogging is definitely harder, just like writing is harder. I struggle to clearly express myself; and enjoy the process of taking time to understand my own point of view when I have to write it out. I strive to make my thinking transparent, especially to myself.

But not every post is published and not even thoughts makes the draft stage for this blog either.  and I have other blogs which are not included in this number:

  • I had to launch a Evernote/Postach.io blogette for my shorter, quippier thoughts: milkcarton.postach.io
  • I maintain a pic-a-day (if not by the numbers in spirit) of my kids through posthaven – so as not to over-do my FB stream

So observations and change over time is what I guess I am really trying to study through all my blogging. It is hard because I really have to nail down my current place of thought first for this blog. It isn’t like a quip or a picture where one could revisit later and see some new, hidden layer. If I am thinking it I probably need to call it out then in detail, that is the value of this blog for me. There is no other way to see change over time in my own thoughts than to document as thoroughly as possible and then revisit.

The answer to why such a variety in production between Twitter and my blog has to be more than the differences between reading and writing though.

The culture of Twitter in education can sometimes pressure us to “produce” a certain amount of content I think. Auto-producing content is easily done from other trusted Twitter users. I will point out here the 30% of my tweets being retweets as proof that I am solidly in that category. Even though reading is faster than writing, I still am not reading each and every post deeply behind all my retweets. Sometimes I retweet the title of the post as a statement of support for the person I am retweeting, sometimes in support of the title of the post itself, sometimes in support of the hashtag/chat.

What are my payoffs for each activity?

To be honest, Twitter is easier to maintain. The blog is more difficult in that it requires deep thought and much revision on my part, and that means more time into each post. Nothing sums that up for me as the above mentioned rate of retweeting I do. According to sites such as Klout I am producing whether I retweet, reply conversationally to someone, or produce original content.  The only way to post a blog is to write a blog post (the way I want to do it on this site).

Every blog post I publish is tweeted out via IFTTT to put some of my original content out there. To try and re-purpose time spent on blogging I have used a WP plugin which tweets old posts and I link to old posts when relevant in new ones. I have recently tried to add Pin-able images to each post if readers curate through Pinterest.

What is it about followers on Twitter that my blog cannot match? I have considered trying to create an opt-in email newsletter, in case anyone from the 90s visits my site, but I have not pulled the trigger on that yet. I want all of my content available at the same level, not hidden behind actions I require readers to take. I have considered a pre-planned schedule of posts, weekly “topics”, anything to reward me or give me a sense of accomplishment. Frankly the MOOC habit has started me writing more and I find myself needing practices/motives which sustain it.

I will keep pushing on my blogging; it is a way for me to better understand why I think what I think.

I don’t worry about Twitter, it seems to be able to sustain itself.

What about you? Do you have a position on either blogging or tweeting?