More Lame Blog-Like Attempts

Folks in the education publishing world seem to have finally realized that maybe a blog or some other sort of dynamic, interactive web elements would help get and keep readers on their sites. Otherwise, they're basically left out of things in between each issue. I admire the interest and effort, but I have to say that none of the ones I've come across really seem to do the job as well as, say, I could --

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Over at EdWeek, they've got yet another new blog (Motivation Matters), this one written by one of their editors. But it isn't getting publicized, doesn't seem like it's written by someone who reads other blogs, and doesn't seem like it's going to make it. Being interested in education, or even knowledgeable, or having kids or being a teacher, does not a good blogger make. Timeliness, humor, short posts, and interesting commentary are what get folks going.

Over at District Administration, they've got The Pulse, a Huffington Post-like group blog effort that has a random assortment of familiar and unfamiliar names but seems to be generating very little buzz. The bloggers don't interact with each other, the posts don't seem to be anywhere near daily. I can't imagine it lasting very long before it's all done in-house.

Last but not least, a handful of publications like Catalyst in Chicago have now gone past just listing reporters' phone numbers and emails at the end of each piece and started inviting readers to comment on the stories they've just read. This works very well on some sites, like Slate, where pieces include links to other stories and documents and blogs are part of the package. But I am skeptical that readers will jump in cold on sites like Catalyst that are otherwise static and one-way in terms of information flow.