We have at least one think in common: We are all writers! We write for different reasons. We write in different genres. We write for different readers, but we all write. We write for work, for school, for family, for friends, for community. We write to persuade, to inform, to comment, to motivate, to inspire, to comfort. We write news, features, journals entries, essays, research papers, poetry, and letters. We write to like-minded readers, hostile readers, acquaintances, and strangers.But we write. We write to make a difference. The paper is our microphone. The pen is our mouth, and the ink is our blood. The words are our thoughts and feelings. It is a vulnerable proposition -writing, but we are writers. It is what we do.When something is frustrating, writing through it brings resolution. The work doesn’t even need to get read, but it is rewarding when it does. When we write about something new and exciting, a sense of satisfaction is often shared between the writer and reader. When confused or overwhelmed, writing sorts out our thoughts and feelings. When we are saddened, writing somehow reduces our anxiety.Writing calls us to the computer when we are tired, but we comply. And when we are finished writing, we are content, but for only a short time. We have at least one more thing in common: We write for blogs.

Writing for blogs presents unique opportunities and obstacles. When we communicate face to face, we have the opportunity for immediate feedback. For example, if I said, “The movie, Leatherheads was good,” you could reply: “In what way was it good?” Because of the opportunity to clarify our meaning through follow-up questions, many of us have become accustomed to not striving for clarity in our casual conversations. A typical conversation might go something like this:

· Mr. Jones: “I had a bad day today.”
· Ms. Smith: “What happened?”
· Mr. Jones: “We missed a deadline.”
· Ms. Smith: “Why.”
· Mr. Jones: “Jimmy was just off.”
· Ms. Smith: “Do you mean off work, or he was not very productive?”

This conversation is an example of interpersonal communication. The process works something like this: Mr. Jones starts with an idea that he wants to communicate to Ms. Smith. He goes through a process called encoding. That’s the process of changing ideas to symbols (symbols can be spoken words, written words, body language, etc.) Ms. Smith heard the words or symbols and decoded them into meaning for her. Because Mr. Jones’ symbols were ambiguous or vague, Ms. Smith provided necessary feedback. Mr. Jones continued encoding symbols until he and Ms. Smith achieved effective communication.

In mass communication such as with newspapers and radio, the sender of information and the receiver of information usually lack the opportunity for immediate feedback. If receivers don’t understand what they read in the newspaper or heard on TV, they often just put down the paper or change the channel. The lesson here is that in mass communication, the sender must chose the best symbols to be clear the first time or risk losing the attention of the receiver.

Blogs are unique. Communicating through blogs is similar to interpersonal conversation in terms of the casualness of the conversation and the opportunity for comments. Communicating through blogs is also similar to mass communications in that there is one sender and numerous receivers, and while the feedback opportunities exists, relatively few bother to take advantage of the opportunity. Even when receivers leave remarks seeking clarification from the blog writer, it is often too late to benefit everyone involved because bloggers participate in online conversations sporadically.

That said there is ample opportunity for miscommunication through blogging, especially as it relates to the writers’ tone, inflection, and connotation. Emotion is difficult to convey online. Bloggers may choose to use emoticons such as smiley faces to indicate emphasis and emotion. However, careful attention should be used for new bloggers, who may be unfamiliar with the less common emoticons. Some emoticons are easy to misinterpret. Then there’s the abbreviated, text-message carry over to blogs. I remember years ago when I received a message with “lol” included. I wondered why my student was responding with “lots of love.” Fortunately before responding I discovered “lol” stood for “laugh out loud.” Another potential for miscommunication for writers and readers of blogs is a word in ALL CAPS. To some a word in all caps means an important term, to others it connotes shouting.

Because of the numerous opportunities for misunderstanding, those who write for blogs might consider how each word could be received by the reader. If, for example, sarcasm is intended, the blog writer might consider a parenthetical expression, ie (sarcasm). While this may seem cumbersome, the alternative is the potential for misunderstanding. If the goal is effective communication, blog writers should be careful to avoid vague, ambiguous terms or terms that may have unintended consequences. With all the online competition, attracting readers to your blog or website is difficult. But getting frustrated readers to return is a steeper hill to climb.

As you know: once you say it, it’s out there! Writing is powerful; it can change the world. And blogs are our most powerful platform; where else do our words have the potential to be heard by the world.

Robertstevenson is a dad, professor of mass communications and writer. His blog, Rob’s Megaphone is a dedicated to “funny, interesting stuff” from all over the world wide web. If you are looking for a fun and interesting blog stop by and check it out.