What NOT To Do as a Student (or Teacher) Blogger

Knowing What NOT to is as Important as Knowing What TO do

Blogging may sound like something that is easy to do. Taking your thoughts and putting pen to paper (or should that be fingers to keyboard?) The truth is, blogging can be quite tricky to get the hang of. Much like social media, blogging can be open to plenty of issues and mistakes. Things that can make you come across in the wrong way, or not even interest your possible readers at all.

So, how do you make sure that you are a pro at blogging? Especially if it is something that you are reasonably new to doing?

Here are our top tips for things that you should most definitely avoid doing on your blog.

Writing things that you may later regret

Many of us have heard in the media about a famous blogger who lost a major contract due to a controversial post on Youtube.  When we are younger, we often do not think through the implications of our actions on our future fully. It may seem like fun to talk about our professors or colleagues, or post drunk pictures on the internet. Once something gets shared online, it can become extremely difficult to get it removed. Employers often google prospective employees names to do some background research and may form an incorrect picture.

Ignoring copyright law or crediting someone else’s work

In this modern age of copy and paste, students have become accustomed to ’grabbing’ information and images off the internet.  The implications are often not felt within an educational setting, but when used without permission in the public sphere, things are quite different.  All too often bloggers and vloggers have been met by a legal letter asking them to ‘cease and desist’.  In the worst cases, people have even been billed for every image that they have used without permission by the owners.

Write boring and run of the mill things

Surely one of the worst things that you could do if you have a blog is be boring. The world of blogging is a full one, there are plenty of people out there who are already making quite a lot of noise. Do you want to make sure that you are not just another voice in the crowd?

Then don’t be boring. The best way to make sure that you have something interesting to say is to ask yourself some questions before you start writing any blog.

Ask yourself why you are blogging? Ask yourself who you are blogging to? Ask yourself what they will find interesting or of value? Once you know the answer to this it is time to get writing. Make sure that anything you create is going to be of value to your target audience and hopefully your blog will prove popular. It is important to learn from your mistakes and grow.

Post without reading it through first

One of the biggest issues that can crop up for a blogger is hitting share or post before you have really thought about what you have written. It is always a good idea to read through what you have written before you share it with the world.

This could simply be to check spelling and grammar (after all, you won’t want to come across as someone who can’t spell) but can also cover you from not saying things that could get you into trouble.

You won’t want to post anything that is illegal, and definitely never anything racist, sexist or homophobic. You may also want to try and steer away from posts that are too negative or could be seen as whining. Unless they are in context, this could turn off potential followers from subscribing to your blog.

Finally, you should never make your blog a personal attack or a chance to shame anyone. Even if you think you are covering over who it is aimed at, chances are that they will find out, and this could really upset them. Not to mention get you into trouble.

Ignore mistakes that other people have made

Mistakes are made for a reason. They give us all a chance to learn and make changes to what we do next time. It may not always be you who has made the mistake, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn from it.

If you know someone who has fallen from grace due to their blog, then see what it was that they did wrong. Once you know that, avoid doing it yourself. After all, you don’t want to end up in trouble or without any readers.

Think that it won’t take time, because it does

We are all guilty of wanting things there and then, and blogging is no different. Sure, sometimes you will be able to create a blog post in no time at all. But other times it can take a while to make sure that what you want to say comes out of your brain and onto the laptop.

Be patient with yourself, it will come eventually, and by not rushing, you will have something pretty awesome. Rather than something quick but not ideal!

It may not be tricky to do, but blogging can really take time to master. That is why it is important that you take your time and respect it as the marketing and social media tool that it is!

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