If you follow this blog, you undoubtedly know that I’m constantly trying out new technologies as they become available, sparks my interest. I feel that the test for my particular usefulness is how sticky that resource is for me.
So, if it sticks, I make it part of my routine.
When Openzine came along, I read it as just another blogging site. I took a quick look and then moved on.
Something drew me back and I started thinking about the ability to publish in a different type of format. I was thinking about kids publishing their own newspaper easily. The writing would be the difficult part and the publishing is a final step. Now, in Ontario schools, we have Microsoft Publisher licensed by the Ministry of Education so the concept of publishing in that format isn’t new. Openzine adds an additional component though…it lets you publish to the web and its potentially bigger audience. Another feature wasn’t apparent until I started following Openzine on Twitter. In order to promote their service, they periodically publish announcements about some of the content that people have produced and published on their site.
This wasn’t of particular interest to me. This blog gets thousands of views but what a hoot it would be for kids to publish and have visitors all over the place drop by because of an advert on Twitter.
I decided to give it a shot. One of the frustrating things that I have is trying to find a blog post that I’ve made in the past. So, I thought…what if I made a summary of the previous week’s posts and publish them there. At least I could hit one page and get seven posts at at shot. I started that and my first entry was, just OK. I was learning the ropes and found a few strings.
Subsequent attempts are getting me closer to what I’d like to do with it.
I’m liking the format and what it’s doing for me. If you’ve got a few minutes and want to explore alternatives to traditional blogging or traditional publishing, I’d suggest giving it a try. I love a technology that has the potential to change everything.
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doug --- off the record 