Sandra Dickinson

I discovered your project because you listed BLOG as a tech tool your project uses.  In fact (unlike some others who list the same tool) it looks to me like BLOG a primary tool for your project! 

I'm glad I found you because a blog (long with a wiki) are the primary tools of my own project. I'm looking forward to exploring with other like-minded folks how these tools can best be used to promote our different social purposes.

Anyway, it looks your project uses the blogging tool in one of the two ways it was born to be used - for its most pristine journalistic purpose (rather than 'personal diary' type purpose).  And you express facing an obstacle that my project also faces = participation.

The two types of participation you expressly mention are: bloggers/writers and readers.  But you don't expressly mention "commentors." That was a bit surprising to me, since your project describes itself as a place for DISCUSSION. But clearly, engaging commentors is an implicitly important challenge in your project.  And we share that challenge! My project also needs a blog that works as a two-way conversation street.

I'm sure you are as aware as I am that the challenge of engaging commentors is rife thruout the blogosphere.  Most blog "participation" is passive readership.  For many (most?) bloggers, readers matter more than commentors.  For some of us (like your project and mine!) -- the interaction of blog post and comment is vital to accomplishing the social purpose.

There is very little out there as far as either theoretically-based or evidence-based strategies and tactics for engaging blog commentors within the context of serving a social purpose.  I would love to explore these issue with you further - now that I have found you in this forum.

I invite you to take a look at my project Selearninggames.  My project intends to use a combination of wiki and blog as the primary 'starter tools' to accomplish its social purpose.  Please let me know what you think about how I am using the blog tool.  Thank you.