Recently, Kitty and I led a seminar discussing “What Makes a Good Blog Post.”

The main part of this seminar was the voting part. We had participants vote for their preferred type of content, title, and picture for a blog about “Traveling to Century Park.” It was super fun to see people engage in intense debates about which option was better. Through these debates, participants extended the topic to several key questions, including:

1. The purpose of reading blogs (entertainment, finding travel destinations, etc.).

2. The main focus of a blog (unique experiences, artistic conception, comprehensiveness).

The second part of the seminar was the text analysis section. During this part, participants discussed the conventions and essential elements of a blog post. They suggested several components that should be included in most blogs:

1. Photos

2. Titles

3. Emojis

Further discussion is about the importance of wrtiting about unique feelings and experiences.

Overall, I think I did my best to prepare for this seminar, and I am very happy to see how engaged the participants were—especially those who usually prefer not to speak much, like Thomas. However, I believe there’s still room for improvement.

First, I think the topic could be more focused on the relationship between the audience and the blog post. It’s difficult to vote or discuss “what makes a good blog post” without understanding what the audience wants to see.

Second, some participants were still hesitant to speak. Perhaps next time, they could write their answers on paper, and the host could read them aloud?  While this approach isn’t as effective as speaking directly, but it’s certainly better than not participating.