Community Blog
The effort to support training and encourage
group
collaboration
is
often
met
with
resistance
and
confusion.
The
threaded
discussions
and
chats
available
are
sometimes
complicated
for
the
users
and
can
leave
the
less
technically
savvy
participant
out
in
the
cold.
In
addition,
group
discussions
require
a
lot
of
work
just
to
get
everyone
in
the
same
room
and
participants
may
not
have
the
time
to
attend.
A
community
blog
could
offer
a
solution.
What's a blog?
Blog
comes
from
the
Internet
term
Web
Log.
A
blog
is
a
simple
concept.
It
is
a
place
to
keep
a
log
on
the
Web.
From
the
solitary
user
putting
their
thoughts
out
for
all
to
read
to
the
presidential
candidates
using
them
to
compliment
their
informational
Web
sites,
blogs
are
turning
up
everywhere.
Users simply enter their content in a form
and
click
a
publish
button.
The
rest
is
automatic.
The
members
of
the
group
can
access
the
content
from
their
blog
page
to
respond
or
begin
another
related
topic.
Blogs are not intended to contain perfect
journalistic
or
business
grammar.
They
are
built
on
the
concept
of
information
and
idea
sharing.
They
are
considered
easier
for
contributors
to
use
and
easier
for
readers
to
follow
than
the
widely
used
e-mail
or
discussion
formats.
This
casualness
helps
encourage
the
growth
of
a
group
culture
and
participation.
Blogs can:
- Establish an interactive dialog.
- Build a community.
- Allow knowledge sharing.
- Increase collaboration.
- Provide a 2-way open exchange.
Blog sites offer the ability to instantly
publish
information
to
the
Web
that
is
easy
to
use.
The
blogs
are
posted
on
the
designated
Web
page
in
a
format
similar
to
a
newspaper
or
newsletter,
showing
a
title
and
entry
in
chronological
order.
For
privacy,
groups
can
create
a
blog
on
the
organization
intranet
or
use
a
blog
site
that
offers
password
protection.
How to begin:
1. Decide the purpose for your blog and
the
audience
that
will
use
it.
2.
Appoint
someone
to
act
as
editor.
3.
Research
and
implement
the
blog
tools
you
will
use.
Know
your
needs
for
scale,
flexibility,
archiving,
and
privacy
before
you
start.
4.
Establish
the
policies
and
guidelines
for
blog
users.
5.
Plan
the
first
few
topics
and
prepare
to
post
information
at
first
to
encourage
users
to
contribute.
Some
users
may
need
encouragement
at
first.
6.
Monitor
the
use
and
results
of
the
blog.
Future Blogging
The
US
Navy
is
researching
the
future
benefits
of
blog
as
a
team
communication
tool.
The
blog
is
one
of
the
pilot
programs
selected
for
funding
through
the
Department
of
Defense
Rapid
Acquisition
Incentive-Net
Centricity
(RAI-NC)
initiative.
The ONR and NUWC are leading a government-industry
team
to
develop
a
blog
as
a
promising
new
approach
to
speeding
up
the
exchange
of
information
on
new
defense
technologies-and
thereby
speed
up
getting
the
technologies
into
the
field…
…It will serve as a medium for distribution
of
general
information
to
staffers
from
the
seven
team
members.
It
also
will
enable
users
to
post
proprietary
data,
for
example,
test
results
and
reports,
that
are
accessible
only
to
designated
readers
or
groups
of
readers.
The
homepage
will
resemble
a
newspaper
consisting
of
stories
posted
by
users.
Office of Navy Research
Just a Few Blog Resources
Blogging
information
and
sites
are
found
throughout
the
Internet.
Here
are
just
a
few
of
them.
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