How and why I resumed blogging?

Thanks to a Google Hangout organised by jobs.ac.uk (watch video here or read notes here), I got back to blogging, and this time more efficiently. Not only was I blogging, but I was promoting myself more on other social platforms.

I first started my blog on blogger in 2010, with seldom posts about the more seldom happy moments when my PhD would be going on smoothly.

When I started managing projects at the uni, well I had to get to blogs to reach out and be more visible among my peers and also to students and parents. All these blogs were however all on the university WordPress and I devoted lots of time creating it and maintaining a post on average every 3 days. As I got projects students on board, I ended up delegating this task to them. Not that I was finding blogging boring, au contraire, I was enjoying the writing. But being their supervisor on the type of project aimed at enhancing digital skills, I found it imperative for me to give them the opportunity to play with all tools available at hand.

As I moved on, these projects were classified as completed and archived. When I left the university where I worked, then these archives were no more my posts, they were no longer mine. I felt I invested so much time in increasing my visibility among peers, that it was all gone suddenly. Blog writing was never on my work contract, so I had spent hours and hours after work and on weekends writing posts, ready for a Monday morning publication.

The fact that my blog posts were no long mind had  put me off blogging. Howerver, following the Hangout, I’ve realised that it is now far easier to blog but to also import my previous blogs.

Now not only have I started blogging again, but I am more active on other platforms as well. I regularly post updates or articles on my LinkedIn profile which automatically send tweets to my twitter account. I have equally set up a Scoopit account, to automatically send posts on LinkedIn and Twitter, and at the same time have a newsletter format and curated information ready for my reference.

I am so glad my professional engagement on twitter has been noticed. My tweet has been curated. Check the Learning Org newspaper for 22Feb

However, one question keeps popping in my head.  Let’s face it, I am connecting with my students via social media and I have to constantly be visible so as to promote my works and the works of the institution. When will work contracts for academics explicitly mention hours of work to be spent on digital platforms and teaching digitally?