#PFR network: blog & #socialmedia directions

…because a) I want your ideas t & b) writing about mine helps crystallize them, especially the most stubbornly inchoate.

First though, comes a brief social media re-cap with a reminder (here it comes) that questions and calls for clarification are always welcome. Post them wherever -- as comments here, on the blog, or on a social media iteration (Facebook or G+ as Twitter seems a tad minimalist for the purpose). Here you can be as anonymous or psuedonomynous as you wish or suits your needs.

PS: #PFR = Precarious Faculty Rising; "network" because it is.

Already I'm blogging more. Not blogging was a sure sign of my discontent. Facebook-busy was just an excuse, albeit not a bad or entirely invalid one. 84 posts in 2013, 202 in 2012. Even bloggers living in a houseboat on the Nile can't deny that message. There are 4-5 posts in draft, reblogs that I need to add copy to and several more in my inbox.

blogging through the doldrums

…The NFM blog is having a mid-life crisis. As remedy, I'm thinking swerve ~ a change of direction heading for territory less frequented by social media ~ but keep the furniture (tabbed pages, widgets, feeds), change carpets, curtains and put down a fresh coat of paint. Please share your thoughts…

Why now? Today is reflection day, not just here but across various networks. That is what I told myself this morning and look how far along I am not. Instead of the ubiquitous and easily ignored to-do list, consider a didn't-do list. I am. It seems more realistic. At the end of May, I bemoaned a four post month and promised to do better in June. Instead, I matched with another four. April was a five post month. Blogs do have mid-life crises. Some succumb to them. This one has been going since 2009, cultivated readers, added pages, news stream, video bar, feeds, widgets and such, but, like so many blogs, been eclipsed by social media...hence crisis and now reflection.

Reading Room: Reclaiming the University Links, Friday June 8

…Michael Meranze rounds up #highered news, emphasis on California but relevant for all. Visit, read and bookmark or add Reclaiming the University, edited and with articles by Chris Newfield (author of Unmaking the University) and Michael Meranze, to your rss reader. In particular, take a look at Chris' June 6 piece, "Quality Public Higher Ed: From Udacity to Theory Y" (worth a post of its own). See also Bob Samuel's Changing Universities and Chris' "overflow" archives. It's a challenge keeping such similar blog names separate. Nor are these the only ones, a blog sub-genre for all practical purposes (and surely the topic for another post...).


Last week, an over ambitious link lollapalooza feast assembled passed its "sell by" date before even reaching the drafts folder. Also in the pipes: a less time sensitive university themed Omnivore collection.