No Comment(s) - Cool vs Hot Media

I've been writing FractaLog posts for almost two years now, and I've wondered why the number of comments per post is about as close to zero as you can get. Now I know that something is being read, or at least stared at (if I can trust the Squarespace statistics reports, or those produced by Google Analytics), so I'm left to wonder what's up. Are the posts written in such a way that discourages comments?

I read an interesting take on this situation recently by Phil Ford in his Dial M for Musicology blog. In his post Blog media hot and cool he writes that "I've often noticed how it's the posts that I took most seriously ... the ones that take 90% of my blog-related time, that end up being ignored in the blogosphere, while the ones I spend 5 minutes putting together get the mad blog love." Ford's post interests me because in it he brings up Marshal McLuhan's ideas of hot and cool media, with Ford's thesis that blogs are "cool media" , in the sense that "They're less "dense," less "high-definition," and offer a wider variety of ways one can react to them; they have open pockets, lots of interstitial spaces that others can fill in for themselves." Ford is writing his piece as a cautionary tale about the future of academic writing if too much becomes "cool" b/c of the growing market share of the blogosphere. (For an even more dire view, see Cool Media and the Virgin Mary by K. P. Hawes, the site that produced the image at the top of this post)

But how does this translate into whether comments to posts appear or not? It might be too simple to conclude that the actual posts are too long, filled with too many links, too discursive, i.e. they are definitely NOT COOL. 

So I should definitely try to shorten my

The 10th Carnival of Art

Carnival by Elaine Normandy , who uses Gnofract 4D - freeware fractal software for Linux.I found out earlier today that my post on Art and Science Transvergence: Glowing Bunnies was listed in the latest Carnival of Art, a blog carnival that has been hosted by Australian artist Jennie Rosenbaum since June 2006.

I really appreciate the link there - so thank you Jennie!

I urge all readers here to check out Carnival of Art - #10 . With categories in Art History, Art News, Art Philosophy, Artworks, Creating Art, and The Biz, there are a lot of intriguing, compelling, beautiful, and informative posts.

And don't stop there - read the Carnivals of Art #1 through #9.

This is my first experience with a blog carnival, and I am very impressed with the ability to reach more readers, and find more amazing blog posts than I can imagine finding by other routes, including Technorati.

For more on blog carnivals, including how to find them, submit a post, or even host one, check out BlogCarnival.com.

For a detailed analysis of the ability of blog carnivals to be important engines of social networks, and their potential to "become online equivalents of not just TIME magazine, but also GQ, Vogue, Parenting, National Geographic, People, and, why not, Science and Nature" see Blog Carnivals And The Future Of Journalism, an excellent post by Bora Zivkovic in his Science and Politics blog.

Information Science Blogging

I've read the articles of Joyce Kasman Valenza for years in the Philadelphia Inquirer, where she is a columnist in the tech.life@inquirer section, but I've just now come across her blog, and her library page for Springfield Township High School.

Joyce  is pursuing a Ph.D. in the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program at UNT’s School of Library and Information Science.  Her blog,  Joyce Valenza's Neverending Search, is an incredible resource or all things info-and ecucational-technology-related.  She is also an EduBlog 2005 winner. 

A nice feature of her site is a blogroll that consists of many dozens of information-science blogs.

So look into Joyce's work, and sites - they are invaluable for any type of information literacy course.  You will also e able to find many posts on the efficacy of blogging and wikiing in the classroom.

Science by Blogging

Particle Physics Tracks in a Bubble Chamber. Click to enlarge.Blogs are normally thought of as more personal diary/opinion vehicles, but  I have believed in the potential for blogs as an exciting teaching tool ever since my small success with blogging in the Fall 2005 Chaos and Fractals course. 

This potential is taken to the nth degree in a very informative article by  Sean Carroll in APS News (May 2006).   There Carroll describes his own view of blogging as "a great opportunity for physicists to exchange ideas more readily with each other, and to let the rest of the world share the thrill of the process by which science truly progresses." 

Carroll, is a a member of the Cosmic Variance group blog whose physicist/astrophysicist contributors write about "science, art, politics, culture, technology, academia"  (the similarity to FractaLog is not intentional - but I am heartened to see all of these scientists out there willing to place their science in the context of life itself.)

Read Carroll's article for ideas of how blogging helps him, and how it might help you - in teaching, research, and, everything else.

Carroll describes a number of interesting blogs.  I list them here as a resource.

Click to read more ...

Collaborative Science/Culture Blogs

I've come across a number of very interesting blogs that are non-linear mixtures of science/culture/politics/everything else. Some are solo efforts, while others are collaborations among scientists - something I hope that FractaLog can become...

In the meantime, there are some fascinating, and provocative posts. Please visit ...

RealClimate

"RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists. We aim to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary. The discussion here is restricted to scientific topics and will not get involved in any political or economic implications of the science."

ScienceBlogs
This is a collection of blogs hosted by Seed Media Group (they publish Seed magazine, a magazine devoted to science and culture). From the ScienceBlog site: "ScienceBlogs is the web's largest conversation about science. It features blogs from a wide array of scientific disciplines, with new voices coming on board regularly. It is a global, digital science salon."

As of this posting, there are 15 blogs hosted at ScienceBlogs. My favorites:

• Cognitive Daily (with timely reports on advances in cognition theory and practice)


• The Intersection (On the intersection of science and politics


• Uncertain Principles ("Ramblings about life as a physicist on the tenure track at a small liberal arts college.")


• Adventures in Ethics and Science


• Pharyngula ("Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal.")

The Panda's Thumb
As the name suggests, TPT is dedicated to evolutionary matters. From the main page: "The Panda's Thumb is the virtual pub of the University of Ediacara. The patrons gather to discuss evolutionary theory, critique the claims of the antievolution movement, defend the integrity of both science and science education, and share good conversation."

Now you may not have heard of the University of Ediacara. U of E is an "online virtual University dedicated to the study of the origins of life in the cosmos" that has the the most impressive faculty list ever assembled. (including a Professor of Meaningless Calculations, a Professor of Creative Non-Sequitur Engineering, and a Visiting Professor of Mostly Invisible Organisms.)

Cosmic Variance
This blog is maintined by a group of physicists and astrophysicists... from different universities. Although dedicated to science, the bloggers do post regularly on " arts, politics, culture, technology, academia." Note that there is also a good list of Physics blogs.

Blogging on Edublogging

I've really been happy by student response to blogging in the Chaos and Fractals course (although I didn't start up the blog until late in the semester, with a resulting small number of student posts.)

I've been thinking a lot about how to improve on this blog, and also wondering about other blogging opportunities for different classes - my own, and for other disciplines.

There's a wonderful blog devoted to Edublogs - blogs for education. Titled The Edublog Awards: Awards for scholarly and education focused bloggers the blog (managed by James Farmer ) has given out awards to the top edublogs - as voted on by educators.

Check out the 2005 Winners. The categories include

• Most innovative edublogging project, service or programme
• Best newcomer
• Most influential post, resource or presentation
• Best designed/most beautiful edublog
• Best library/librarian blog
• Best teacher blog
• Best audio and/or visual blog
• Best example/ case study of use of weblogs within teaching and learning
• Best group blog
• Best individual blog

There's enough here for anybody teaching from K-16 and beyond. Many of the sites have opened my eyes to different teaching and learning techniques, and blog designs that assist these techniques.

This is the second year of the Edublog Award blog, so you can check out last year's winners via the archives.

While you're at it, check out Incorporated Subversion, James Farmer's blog. Farmer is a designer, educator, writer and consultant living and working in Melbourne, Austra ...At his blog you'll see several of his initiatives, including free blogs for university students (uniblogs), educational blogs (edublogs), and social software and open source for education.

(Note: I got the idea for this post after reading a nice summary of the Edublog awards by Joyce Kasman Valenza in the Jan. 22, 2006 Phila. Inquirer)