This coming week, I’m briefing some students on their blogging assignment – the first time I’ve made blogging a compulsory part of the curriculum. I have mixed feelings about this, but the strong upside is that we’re in good company. Others (students, their teachers) have gone down this route, so we can benefit from shared experiences and collective wisdom – and I can save time by pointing to Karen Russell’s Tips for promoting PR student blogs.
Just remember, promotion isn’t your starting point. As Karen says, this comes after you’ve created a blog and begun posting some original content to it.
PR Studies 
Dear Mr. Bailey,
I am your PR&New Media student. It is really nice to see that you are giving us an opportunity to share our ideas and experiences on this new media world 🙂
Kind regards;
Elif
Shed those mixed feelings, Richard. Compulsory blogging is a great way to help students improve their online writing skills. It helps them find their voice while also learning about an important segment of social media. Blogging is intimidating for some, as it’s the first time they’ve put their work on display for all the world to see. It builds character.
Richard
Your strategy of making blogging compulsory is music to our collective ears at Quest PR http://www.quest-pr.com.
As an employer constantly seeking to attract the top talent http://quest-pr.blogspot.com/
the industry requires practitioners who can add instant value by harnessing the power of new media through an ability to compose articulate and interesting blogs.
Managing their online reputation will continue to be an increasing challenge for organisations across wide-ranging sectors. With so many blogs being decried as a self-gratification vehicle, we need graduates who understand the rules of blogging – particularly as so many PR agencies, including ourselves, now provide blogging (technical, writing and editing support) as a complementary PR service to their clients.
As an industry we should be taking the lead to encourage businesses to reap the benefits of bogging http://www.startups.co.uk/6678842909990157387/firms-fail-to-capitalise-on-power-of-blogs.html by drawing on our expertise to support the uninitiated and instil them with confidence as they embark on their blogging journeys.
We look forward to seeing and hearing from some first class bloggers as a result of your pro-activity!
I think this is great Richard.
Many PR students, myself included, will blog as a way of raising their online profile anyway and to include this as part of our assessment is brilliant.
It will help students improve both their writing and networking skills, as well as building knowledge and experience surrounding new social media.
Bravo!
I’m not 100% clear in my reasoning, Richard, but I share your mixed feelings about compulsory blogging. Encourage the students, to blog, cajole them, but force them to blog? What if they just plain don’t want to? Or don’t have anything to say?
My real fear is that, by coercing students into public writing before they’re perhaps ready, some of them will be more likely to fail – or get their fingers burned – than if they’d started blogging out of their own free will.
It’ll be an interesting one to watch.