More CCA Blogs Launched But...

More CCAs are opting to set up official blogs to disseminate news for future activities, enable members to post reflections of events and engage with the growing online audience. The softball team had just launched its very own blog a few days ago (you can view it HERE) and one of my sources told me that the badminton squad is looking forward to open its blog soon. There are currently about five active CCA blogs in our college blogosphere so far.











Our softball team's newly launched blog.

I believe there are three reasons why more CCAs are choosing to run official blogs instead of maintaining their web pages. Firstly, it is easier to update posts and announcements by using blogs as a medium to transmit them. CCAs are facing a huge difficulty in finding the best people with the right skills to revise their web pages. You need to at least have knowledge of basic HTML in order to update the web page (properly). By contrast, team members can easily insert slide shows, videos and music onto their blogs without much trouble.

Another reason is probably because our CCAs are realizing the benefits of allowing any member to update the blogs. Instead of relying on one web master to maintain the website, why not extend the authorship to all members so that information can be shared faster. Besides, members are also free to write reflection posts of past events that they were in. They can exchange tags and comments with each other. This can help strengthen the bond between team members.











The official blog for members of TPJC Interact Club.

Finally, another advantage that blogs carry is anonymity for their readers. Sometimes, students are interested in a particular CCA but are just too shy to ask information about it. Chat boxes embedded onto blogs help solve this problem as anyone can request information while retaining their anonymity. Yes, although the chat boxes can be installed onto web pages, the process may not be as simple as that by using blogs.

Nonetheless, how do our CCAs fully utilize their blogs? Well, the RSS feed tool available for blogs allows readers to subscribe to the blog's feed content and receive the latest updates through the web browser. The service is free and is updated automatically. This means that members will receive post updates from their CCA blog instantly whenever they open their web browsers. This is just one way CCAs can fully utilize their blogs and skip the SMS route.











A blog owned by the TPJC Indian Cultural Society members.

Another fact about CCA blogs is that it can die very easily. The reason is because we do not have CCA-related events or outings every week or so and members usually post their reflections only after an event has ended. Therefore, do not be surprised to view 'What to blog about?! I have nothing to post!!' tags all over some CCA blogs. Another possible outcome is that members may resort to spamming in a desperate attempt to revive the blog.

A guide to fully utilize your CCA blogs will be published soon. =)