Thing 6: Following Blogs and tagging posts

Now that we have our blogs established, it's time to get connected and see what everyone else is doing.

For Thing 6, you'll be commenting on and following some of your classmates' blogs, in addition to tagging the posts you've created so far.

Choose at least three of your classmates' blogs (see the sidebar on the right), and comment on something on their blog--post, picture, twitter. Commenting on blogs allows us to ask questions of one another, make suggestions, or simply to reply to what has been written or posted.

1. Once you've commented, you should then follow those blogs
2. Find 2-3 other blogs that you'd like to follow--maybe about a topic you're interested in, or someone you found out about on Twitter. Take a look at the comments on those blogs.
3. Tag the posts you've created so far. Tagging allows you to categorize your posts, which is really helpful if you blog regularly. To "tag" your posts: go into your old posts by clicking "edit posts" on your dashboard. On the bottom of the edit box, you'll notice a place for labels. Create labels that will help readers find the post if they're looking for info on that topic. As you start to create labels, you can click "show all" if you have trouble remembering the name of your tags (tags and labels are the same thing). Note: I am really bad about tagging. Please be better than I am.
4. Post to your blog. Why do you think commenting is important in online communities? How might professional blog writers (someone writing a blog for an organization, for example) view comments--as helpful or annoyances? Finally, write a bit about the tags you chose for your blog.

Just for fun (optional):check out Technorati; Technorati is a search engine for blogs. According to Technorati's self-description:

Technorati.com indexes millions of blog posts in real time and surfaces them in seconds. The site has become the definitive source for the top stories, opinions, photos and videos emerging across news, entertainment, technology, lifestyle, sports, politics and business. Technorati.com tracks not only the authority and influence of blogs, but also the most comprehensive and current index of who and what is most popular in the Blogosphere.

Scoll around - note the top risers or fastest fallers. Check out the top 100 or blogs with most recent posts. Technoriti ranks based on links compared to other blogs with similar content.