It’s officially 2010! And with a new year comes new goals for everyone, whether they come in the form of resolutions or not. One of my resolutions is to learn everything I can in this upcoming year, because I want to be smarter. Not just smarter at trivia or random questions, but smarter in my job, my life and especially smarter in my blog.
The good news is that blogging actually makes you smarter. Just ask Bill Powers, President of the University of Texas. Ever since I was a student Powers has sent out an email to students, alumni and faculty calling attention to important topics regarding life at Texas. This one-way method of communication worked out great for Powers, but it didn’t really make him any smarter about what his community was thinking. He said his piece and then he was done, but he was wasting his time.
Which is why I was so excited on December 20th to see that Powers was going to move from email to a blog called Tower Talk.
Powers wrote his first post, a happy holidays letter, and received 65 comments. The comments were not wishing him a great holiday season, but every single one was asking for an explanation about why Mack Brown got a huge pay raise at the end of this season.
Did Powers even know that his community wanted him to explain himself? Probably not, because they did not have any way to communicate with him before his blog. Powers had not idea what he was supposed to be talking about, but blogging has made him smarter.
Three days later Power’s next post was on a self-sustaining athletics program. He defended Mack Brown’s raise, and explained how athletics works at UT. And the best part? His last line, “Thank you for your input. Dialogue is what this blog is all about.”
Being President of a University, especially one as large as Texas, requires that you be perfectly in tune with your entire community of supporters and critics. Blogging makes you smarter and helps you listen to and respond to your community. It may not be a detailed social media plan where Powers listens and responds to every person who has a comment, but it’s definitely a start. Blogging will make Powers smarter in 2010, and I hope my blog will do the same for me.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi. I agree. Was fiddling with my privacy settings today and was googling ‘how to get unlisted’ when i came across an a website of personal branding, that led me to a post on this blog. Now I’m smarter about PB and know how its done. Thanks!
Also as I added someone on facebook (and she accepted very quickly) I wondered why i couldn’t see her wall. Took me a while to figure out that she was probably using lists on FB! I knew about them but didn’t know how they’re used.Now i know
Want to commend your blog once again! Keep writing.
P.S. have you considered an FB page as opposed to a profile?
The expertise shines turhogh. Thanks for taking the time to answer.
As a frequent reader of your blog, I offer a friendly amendment. I think blogging offers the “possibility” of making you smarter. The blogosphere is an opportunity to create and respond to a public conversation or dialogue – particularly when the posts introduce interesting topics and the comments add something to the conversation. However, there are some bloggers – and commenters – for whom the conversation is still a one way conversation. So when we really reflect on what the others are saying and engage in building mutual understanding, it can make us smarter.
Dr. John,
You make a great point, just the physical act of blogging will not make you smarter! Hopefully President Powers will take the next step and engage his commenters in some dialogue!
As always, thanks for your comment!
A proovctivae insight! Just what we need!
I like your post, but it’s not quite accurate. I read through all 65 comments in response to President Powers holiday greeting, and it is not accurate to say that “every single one was asking for an explanation about why Mack Brown got a huge pay raise at the end of this season.” It is also not accurate to say, “The comments were not wishing him a great holiday season.” There were certainly enough comments on Mack Brown’s salary to get President Powers to address the issue, but it was far from every single comment.
Examples of the 65 comments:
“Great idea on the blog…for those of us who live outside of Austin, this will keep us connected to the university. Thank you for all you do for Texas Exes! Happy Holidays and Hook em Horns!”
“Dear President Powers,
I’m a college student in China now. As I’m totally inspired by the quality and achievement of your school, I plan to apply for the finance major in your school. Thanks to the invention of Internet, I’ve got a chance to go over your blog. And it’s my great pleasure to get to know more about the information concerning the faculty, and students in your university.
Thanks for providing us with a window to see what is going in UT.
Merry Chiristmas and warm blessings to your family!”
“Bill -
Love the foray into new spaces. If I knew how to subscirbe to an RSS feed, I would do so (maybe I’ll figure that out in the nes year?), but in the meantime I’ll try email.
Have a warm and wonderful holiday. Won’t be in Pasadena (but anyone in PA will surely hear my cheers), but I wll hopefully be in Connecticut in January. see you soon.
Hook ‘em,
Lynn”
“Happy Holidays Everyone! All the best for the New Year.”
Now, your blog has also made you smarter!
Hey Kevin,
Thanks for pointing this out! I appreciate you helping me in my goal to be smarter!