Comments

Lesson plan: How does the blogger All Over 2a address the importance of commenting on blogs? This lesson will work best with a full class, so as to have a fruitful discussion about the various social and political factors that contribute to engagement with a blogging platform.

Module 1: The significance of comments

In the early days of my blog, I'd often ask for suggestions from readers or advice, in fact I will occasionally do so. However, I've never received many replies back, and I suppose this is understandable for a blog that isn't particularly large. It is hard gaining traction either way, not that I'm trying to - I'd much prefer having a small blog with a few devoted readers, than to be rich and discontent, stuck with having to write a marketing stump to get by. 

Blogs ought to differ from news articles by a comment section, as otherwise you have a voice unchallenged and can't discuss a topic properly. I know that not everyone will have something to add, indeed I'm not expecting people to start commenting in droves after this post is published. Yet I do wish that my stances on issues weren't effectively ignored. 

Don't take this as an attack, of course - I appreciate you coming here every so often to read about a London suburb, or a field of chemistry. I also don't want to come off as pleading, especially as the internet is a free market and anyone can use it how they wish. But if you'd like to comment, please do.

Module 2: The damaging impacts of corporations

One reason why you may not comment is because Google is infuriating. This affected my friend once - he wanted to leave a comment, but couldn't because Google wanted him to make an account. In the settings I've made it so that anyone can comment, but clearly issues can still seep through. To which I ask Blogger - why is having a Google account the default requirement to blog?

Two minutes of discussion between people sitting next to you, to discuss the stifling impacts of capitalism, and whether mega-corporations are limiting free speech.

I suppose people also may not want to add anything - after all, they may think the post got everything across, or they could simply not want to be left on the internet forever.   

Module 3: Discussing past comments I've not replied to

Perhaps I should be doing more with comments, though. I've not replied to every comment, and as such it's almost hypocritical to ask for more voices when they could go unregarded. As such, I've decided to reply in this post to a series of comments I've received on this blog.

sigma (on my post about absurd physics questions) - I agree. Some of these exam questions get out hand.

I agree as well, and having done more physics past papers, it's becoming more evident that certain questions make no sense on first glance. There's a question on angular velocity that we had to do, which includes a washing machine, and asks how the water is separated from the clothes. The answer was rather intuitive in hindsight (water doesn't undergo centripetal motion, but the clothes do), but it also required you to know about how washing machines work. Perhaps that's common knowledge amongst A Level students.

Not a maths student (on my sugar post) - Unintended good revision for alevel bio!

Thanks, especially as I don't study biology, so to have helped is something I'll remember. Admittedly, sugar is on the biochemistry side of things, so I suppose it wouldn't be odd territory for me.

I do regret not picking A Level Biology too, I think it would be far more interesting than a subject like further maths, which is relentless maths...but that's for another time. 

Unknown (on my post about the general election earlier this year) - Interesting analysis. I remember when at school (1970s) a comparison was made between the %vote share of Harold Wilson (Labour, 1974 x2 37.2% and 39.2%) with the Nazi party in Germany in 1932 (37.3%).

Interesting point, because after all Weimar Germany and the UK used different voting systems at the time. For those who are unaware, before Hitler made Germany into a dictatorship, chancellors were chosen through proportional representation - the percentage of votes received is equal to the percentage of seats obtained. The UK, however, uses first past the post - the one with most votes wins.

Therefore, Harold Wilson got a majority the second time around in 1974 with about the same proportion of votes as Hitler did, though he needed a coalition in the end. Sadly, the Nazis did eventually get into power.

I'm not sure why the commenter was taught this comparison, but it's a curious one regardless. 

And the rest of the comments I've either replied to, or are a variation of "nice blog!" or "keep up the good work!", and I appreciate them a lot. You, Honourable Readers, are extremely kind and I'm thankful to have such support.

Ask the class to discuss the modules at this point. What did they learn about capitalism? How could they apply this information in their lives? Is commenting a good idea?

Homework task: 25 mark essay on whether commenting is an effective way to communicate, ensuring you use the source provided.