UNHCE Information Technology & Distance Education Blog

Weblogs as a Disruptive Technology for Extension (Deborah Coates, IT Specialist at Iowa State University Extension, Journal of Extension, June 2004)

Professional weblogs must be professional. But they must also be individual. And it's this combination that is both truly disruptive and a reflection of things that Extension has always done well. One of Extension's strengths has always resided in its local presence and in building trusted relationships. We don't speak with one voice in our program meetings, in our newspaper columns, or in our radio shows. We need not speak with one voice on the Internet, either.

The Web is about conversation, and the conversation is going on now. The conversation is only momentarily interested in static Web pages and online forms. People want to ask us questions, tell us who they are, find out who we are in turn, and learn new things. We can choose to participate in the conversation or not, but if we don't participate as individuals, the conversation will go on without us.