blogging life

My dear fellow WGL (short for WomenGirlsLadies) Kristal Brent Zook wrote a great piece yesterday over at the Women’s Media Center, Blogging While Brown (and Female). In case you missed it, here’s the summary:

In a preview of the “Blogging While Brown” conference (Atlanta, July 25-27), WMC author Kristal Brent Zook spoke with Gina McCauley, founder of www.whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com and one of the organizers of the upcoming conference. McCauley’s foray into blogging began one year ago, when the Texas-based personal injury attorney was compelled to respond to the demeaning characterizations of black women that she saw making headlines. McCauley’s blog demonstrated the power of individuals to speak out and demand change, when she took on offensive programming from BET. McCauley’s righteous indignation helped to generate a wave of protest, leading BET to reposition, and then cancel, the show.

Then, in the midst of their success, everything changed for supporters of What About Our Daughters as its readers and writers were blindsided by a tragedy that would dramatically alter the tone and content of the site. As Zook reports, a tragedy at Dunbar Village, a West Palm Beach, Florida, public housing complex, helped bloggers at What About Our Daughters and other sites to find their voices on issues of misogyny and violence.

Read the article here.

And by the way, the WGLs (aka, our traveling panel “WomenGirlsLadies: A Fresh Conversation across Generations”) appear next in Washington DC, at the Association of Women in Communications Conference and at Georgetown on September 26. Details coming soon!

Thanks to those of you who wrote in with links for blogs from women’s orgs and research centers–there were bunches I didn’t know about! Like the National Women’s Law Center’s blog, Womenstake, which launched in May 2007. It’s one of my faves, and I’m giving it this month’s Organizational Blog of the Month Award from GWP (I just made that up — you like?!).

What I like about this blog, and what I believe makes it successful (ie, lively! interesting!) as an organizational blog:

1. It has a range of voices. Contributors include legal interns and senior counsel, program assistants and directors, communications staff and law clerks and policy fellows–in other words, not just the executive director.

2. The posts are SHORT (3 paragraphs max) and supertimely.

3. Posts are full of links to items and articles currently in the news as well as to other blogs.

4. They’ve figured out Web 2.0 and social networking (at the bottom of each post you’ll find these options: Digg This! • Save to del.icio.us • Subscribe to this feed • Email this • Share on Facebook)

5. The blog has a sidebar with links to what’s going on at the organization.

Orgs creating blogs: take note! And gratitude to Robin Reed over at NWLC for the heads up.

This weekend Girls Write Now held a blogging workshop for our girls. Sadly, I had to miss it. But I did a little Q&A with them, which I’m posting here for kicks. – GWP

GWN: How often to post; do you set a schedule for yourself?
DS: I post daily, and I limit myself to spending 1 hour on it each day–usually the first hour of the day, after oatmeal and before heading off to do my work.

GWN: What to post about/ what makes a topic “post-worthy”?
DS: Timeliness, most of all. I use my tagline (“Bridging Feminist Research, Popular Reality, and the Public”) as a filter. If it doesn’t fit within that rubric, however, doesn’t mean I won’t post. I’ve created guidelines for guest posting on Girl with Pen and I try hard to hold myself to those standards as well.

GWP: How do you edit your blog posts?
DS: Quickly. I edit as I go. I’ll preview a post and check for spelling errors and do some quick rewriting. With posts I write for places other than my personal blog, though, I’ll have Marco or my mom (BEST editor ever) read it first.

GWP: How do you get the word out about your blog?
DS: Network, network, network! And here’s my 101 on link love: When you find a blogger you admire, link to them in a post and send them the link. Chances are, they’ll likely check out your blog. Form a relationship with them (comment on theirs, email them them directly). Ask if they’ll consider including you in their blogroll. If the admiration is mutual, you’ve got link love.

GWP will be teaching a blogging & journalism workshop for kids through Writopia Lab in August – more soon!

In keeping with my philosophy of always trying new things here in cyberland, I just created my first blog poll. It was supereasy of course, as all things Google Blogger generally are.

The reason for my poll: I’m really eager to hear what you, GWP readers, would like to see more of here, so that I can stay in tune with what you crave. So please please take the poll and let me know, k? It’s over there –>

Thanks!

At long last, some links from my last blogging workshop (Strategic Blogging for Organizations, Women’s Research Centers, and Feminist Experts, June 7). Here’s a sampling of sites and resources to check out from around the blogosphere. Apologies for the crazylong delay…!

Directories
Blogher.org lists blogs by topical categories written by and for women on a wide variety of topics.
BlogCarnival.com lists blog carnivals that provide round-ups of the best blog writing on the web on specific topics.

Women’s organization blogs
Women’s Media Center – Majority Post
NARAL – Blog for Choice
White House Project – Change Everything
Ms. Foundation – Igniting Change
(did I miss yours? please post urls in comments!)

Blog communities & aggregators
BlogHer
MotherTalk
AlterNet

Political blogs
Huffington Post
Talking Points Memo

Feminist blogosphere
Feministing
Pandagon
Racialicious
Feministe
Broadsheet
XX-Factor (Slate)
Vivalafeminista
Culture Kitchen
WIMNsVoicesBlog
Shakesville
The Curvature
F-Word Blog

Momosphere
The Motherhood
WorkIt Mom
Chicago Moms Blog, Silicon Valley Moms Blog, DC Moms Blog

Blogs by academics
A Blog without a Bicycle
BitchPhD
Feminist Law Professors
Feminist Science Prof
Culture Cat
Afrogeek Mom
Hugo Schwyzer
Baxter Sez
Quod She

Blog hosting
Blogger
WordPress
Livejournal
Typepad

Photo Libraries
Flickr
LOC Photostream

Widgets
Springwidgets

Nonprofit resources re new media communications
Idealware
Spin Project
Tech Soup
Pro-Media Communications
Problogger

I’m still lamenting having had to miss NWSA’s annual conference this year, if only because I miss seeing colleagues (hi Alison! hi Astrid!). Thanks to those of you who have been sharing reports and highlights with me. If anyone who attended would like to do a guest post on the conference here at GWP, door’s open! Just shoot me an email at girlwpen@gmail.com and let me know.

Meanwhile, I’m loving that the theme for the 2009 Council on Contemporary Families conference is THE FUTURE OF RELATIONSHIPS: Men, Women, Sexuality, and the Prospects for Gender Equity. Planning is underway. The conference will take place on April 17 and 18 at the University of Illinois, Chicago. CCF’s conference is one of my faves and I’m definitely hoping to go.
…

Here’s Elizabeth Curtis, with more bloggy tips for ya’ll this morning–some you may already know, and some you may not! Enjoy. – GWP

Getting Active Online (Part 1)

In an increasingly wired culture, you probably find yourself spending more and more time online – for work, for fun, for shopping, and more. Wouldn’t it be great if you could effortlessly transform some of that time into powerful activism? These simple steps listed below will help you to become an activist on the internet – the easy way.

Join a SOCIAL NETWORKING website.

Social networking websites allow you to quickly and easily connect with individuals who share similar interests. Because of their rhizomatic nature, these websites facilitate strongly networked collaborations between people who may have never otherwise connected because of geographical or other constraints.

Step 1: Find the social networking website that is right for you.

Popular Social Networking Websites:
–Facebook
–MySpace
–LinkedIn
–Second Life

Good News: Feeling overwhelmed by the number invitations to join these websites that you receive? Google is working on streamlining the online social experience with Open Social.

Step 2: Use your new network to connect with individuals doing similar work, to support causes you believe in, or to raise awareness about important issues.

Organizing Activism: Ms. Magazine (Winter 2008) recently reported on “an underground movement” of individuals who organized via Facebook to protest sexist advertising in the tube system by placing stickers with messages on them has gained national attention in the United Kingdom. Increasingly, off-line activism is being organized online.

Find Your Cause: Facebook allows users to create “Causes” around specific issues and to fundraise for specific non-profit organizations. Many individuals and organizations report success in social networking-based fundraising.

Crossposted.

Hey, GWP readers! This is new guest blogger, Elizabeth M. Curtis here. Loyal GWP readers might remember my previous posts that provided cultural critique and gender analysis. Well, now I’m returning to GWP – as a regular like Courtney Martin and Laura Mazer – to talk about blogging and you.

Many folks want to get more active online and make web 2.0 tools work for them, their writing, their institutions or organizations, and their causes. But sometimes a lack of tech know-how gets in the way. So, I’ll be sharing the secrets of online activism and the blogosphere that I’ve learned since I started blogging way back in 2006 (ages ago in online time!). My goal is to break down the blogging basics and to demystify web 2.0 technology for the folks who can’t wait to get active online, in the blogosphere, and beyond. A “Blog U,” if you will.

My first two tutorials offered to “Blog U” students will focus on getting active online and deciding whether or not you’re blog-ready. I’m looking for future tutorial topics as well. Let me know what you’re interested in exploring in the comments section or email me your queries.

Also, I’ll be cross-posting my “Blog U” posts on my own blog. Stop by for PDFs of “Blog U” material. Next post coming in just a few days…Stay tuned.

Crossposted.

Ok, so I’m stepping up my blogging savvy this season and I’m taking you with me. I’ve started religiously reading ProBlogger for the latest in tips; I really like this guy’s approach.

So I’ve been resisting Twitter, but there’s an interesting post up over there on the importance of building an online network before you need it. Writes Darren Rowse, the ProBlogger guy:

When I began to interact on Twitter I had no plans to use it as a medium for book promotion – however when launch day came I had 6000 people just a 140 character message away.

Another example was recently using LinkedIn. I’ve never really found a way to use LinkedIn effectively before but have promoted my profile on it (in my blog’s footer) because I knew that there would come a time when it would be worthwhile having connections there. Last week it paid off as I used my network of 600 connections to get introductions to a number of key people that I’d have had no way to contact previously.

In both situations the network came before the need to use it.

Hmm…Check it all out and see what you think, here. ProBlogger dude also just came out with a book called, guess what, ProBlogger. I’ll let you know what I learn!

On Saturday I ran a blogging workshop for folks at the National Council for Research on Women‘s annual conference. And I’ve promised those who couldn’t be there but wanted to that I’d post an informative follow-up here. Just wanted to say it’s coming! Stay tuned…

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