Blogging the way to existential disrepair: Part two!

I think about this picture on the regular.
Photo courtesy of Mike Licht/Flickr

By Emerald O'Brien

Around this time last year, I dutifully shared my tips for successful blogging, tips which I learned through several disastrous years of blogging experiences.

A year later, I am finally through with my days of required academic blogging.

So, what have I learned on the other side? Pretty much nothing, but check out the amended version of my old blog for a few extra nuggets. New additions are in italics and a sassy but gracefully matured voice.  

Blogging the way into existential disrepair

by Emerald O'Brien

A photo of the author after finishing this blog.
Photo courtesy of Mike Licht/Flickr

Are you in a journalism class that requires you to blog for a grade? Are you masochistic enough to be writing a blog just for fun? (Or are you really just blogging because its a class requirement?)

Well, you are in luck because in my 7 years of forced blogging experiences, I have collected a pool of invaluable blogging tips, and I'm here to share them with you.

NewsZou: A new student-produced site on trends and tools for journalists

By Hannah Schmidt

Photo credit: NewsZou.com

Journalism assistant professor and interactive director of KOMU-TV Annie Hammock has created NewsZou, a website to discuss digital tools and trends in the journalism industry. 

She started the site for her radio-television journalism course, Advanced Internet Applications, to teach students about blogging.

"The process gives students a chance to dive into the digital journalism industry to learn about trends and tools while they're practicing blogging," Hammock said.

Three Missouri School of Journalism professors' blogs you should be reading

By Andrew Gibson

There's a good chance you've blogged about something during your time at the Missouri School of Journalism. It might've been for Journalism 2150 -- a required course, for those not familiar -- or maybe you're like us and write for a school organization.

What you might not have known, though, is that some of the professors grading your blogs might have ones of their own. Here's a look at three MU faculty members who, as they advise you to do, are building their online brand.

Joy Mayer

Twitter: (@mayerjoy)

The Columbia Missourian's director of community outreach writes about, you guessed it, the intersection of journalism and community. You'll find posts about being transparent with your audience and about "what Missouri community newspapers are doing on Facebook."

But here's the bonus: Mayer, also an associate professor in Print and Digital News, teaches participatory journalism (Journalism 4700), which is all about "social media, analytics, identifying audience, being ambassadors for the newsroom, crowdsourcing and comment moderation." That means her blog is full of useful snippets from the course. If you're curious how to market yourself, find a job or avoid becoming the annoying one in the newsroom, start reading.

Welcome back, ONA Mizzou!

By Nicole Garner

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? ONA Mizzou’s student leaders are ready for another semester and hope you are, too! After several weeks of downtime, you may be wondering how to get involved with ONA Mizzou this semester. But don’t worry -- there are many ways!

Follow ONA Mizzou social media

Do you want to know what the club is doing next? Follow ONA Mizzou on Twitter and like our Facebook page. Social media chair Andrew Gibson is also constantly scouring the Web for information about digital journalism, internships and online tools. He posts his findings in addition to club updates. 

Once you follow, don’t forget to engage! ONA Mizzou is all about creating discussions and wants to hear from you.

Online sports journalism at its worst

By Addison Walton

Imagine it's a normal day in your newsroom. You've got some ideas for a column, and you've got some thoughts down on paper, but nothing has clicked yet. Finally, it comes to you: Throw something against the wall to see if it sticks.

Stony Brook Wolftank blog

Meet John Steigerwald of the Observer-Reporter newspaper in Washington, Pa. Stiegerwald is the Pittsburgh-area columnist most famous for writing that a San Francisco Giants fan who was beaten into a coma brought the attack onto himself. He also libeled NHL player Alexander Ovechkin both in print and on the radio.

Stay alive (online) during crunch time

By Nicole Garner

Photo courtesy of hellofromjennysmith on Flickr.

We’re in the midst of it. That time where you’ve forgotten what sleep, showering and balanced diets are – commonly known as the last weeks of the semester. But just because you’ve (temporarily) given up on anything non-caffeinated doesn’t mean your online presence has to go, too. It’s easy to Internet hibernate when the physical world has deadlines breathing down your neck, but there are a few things you can do to avoid disappearing from the cyber world for a few weeks.

Work ahead of time to schedule tweets, posts or blog updates. Just like studying ahead of time for a final is a good idea, so is working ahead of your exam schedule to prepare blog posts and other social media updates. Programs like Hootsuite and TweetDeck are useful for scheduling tweets or Facebook posts, and many blogging platforms have functions for queuing up posts for publishing. Scheduling social media can take some effort before a time crunch, but ensures your online profiles will be set to weather any posting lulls.