Wednesday 17 June 2009

Blogging from the ivory tower

Sorry for the navel-gazing posts today. I'm avoiding substantial work. Googling 'academic bloggers', there's a clear divide between my type of general stuff by someone who happens to be an academic, and blogs clearly focussed on research and teaching, often using blogs as a way of disseminating research more widely. Perhaps when I get the chance to do some research, I'll get a bit more specific.

There's also a lot of angst and fear around academic blogging. Sure, our superiors aren't interested or convinced, but a lot of people worry that blogging will be seen as facile, pointless, or even damaging.

Activities that do not lead to a revenue stream, such as teaching too well, writing for the public, and, above all, blogging, are considered a sign of an undisciplined and romantic mind that is unlikely to produce a strong ongoing revenue stream.

Perhaps they're right…

4 comments:

Zoot Horn said...

This is the most depressing blog ever.

Zoot Horn said...

Sorry - I meant post!

The Plashing Vole said...

Thanks, I did wonder!

Zoot Horn said...

I want to wee in a revenue stream. Let's hear it for unproductivity and random acts of beauty.