I see Mine has set up a blog for info on SMIP. What has been your experience so far? Is it better than using discussion forum or listservs in terms of interaction? Do you get feedback or comments?
What settings did you use? Are all comments published or do you moderate them?
How often do you write on the blog? Are these regular contributions or ad-hoc whenever there is something new?
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3 comments:
Hi Anna,
Before SMIP started up - I moderated a ListServe on M&E for IFAD supported Progs. To be honest - the levels of actual interaction did not vary much. In both cases, we've had hardly any comments/feedback (despite much encouragement, prodding, asking why the lack of etc).
ListServes allow people to receive the posts directly into their in-boxes, without having to log on to the internet. However, these days - you have the same option with blogs (RSS Feeds). I prefer blogs for a couple of reasons; i) it's easier to look at previous posts (without having to go through heaps of old emails!); ii) you can add pictures/videos etc which help to make the post much more interesting; iii) you can use the statistics to gauge interest & adapt your content accordingly - nos of hits; what people search for; most popular posts etc. So - while there's little in the way of feedback; I know there's interest in the blog & different posts. With a ListServe - it often feels like talking to yourself!
Yes, comments are moderated (there's far too much spam out there).
Right now, it's very ad-hoc. We post when there's something new. How it works is I've talked to individuals, sat with them, called them etc. (!) to encourage them to become regular authors. When we go to the field as a team - our evening reflections on the day form very rich material for the post. Individuals with particularly interesting insights/reflections take responsibility for posting them.
Hope this is useful...happy blogging!
Anna,
I have realized using a blog is a much easier way to communicate and engage in a discussion forum with people with common interest. The experience is still minimal as I just set it up the other day but from the usability I can say it is more user friendly.
The blog allows regular contributions from the slected authors and these can be added upto 100. I think we will need to see how to get more involvement from the project/programmes in the region. We need to build iat up by doing what Mine has done for all the thematic networks and then work from there.
Thanks
Miriam
Hi Miriam,
Here's something you might want to try out on this blog -http://www.feedburner.com (good stats; links for email updates etc).
Mine
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