Read to Think | SocialButterfly

Sometimes, direct instruction is helpful. Like when learning how to cook or change a flat tire. But when it comes to learning about social change, I learn best from those that challenge me to think. This includes blogs.

Last night, Debra Askanase of Community Organizer 2.0 tweeted that she was working on a blog post highlighting blogs to read in 2011. In her tweet, she asked for people to share their own recommendations. I shared the following:

In response, Debra asked me: What are two blogs that get you thinking? Two of the blogs I followed-up with are:

Assetmap: New to the market, Assetmap is the platform that former Change.org’s Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore is working to get started. The blog covers the topic on “how social capital is transforming business, culture and social change.” Not surprising, its posts give me lots of think about, chew on and explore.
Health Populi: Authored by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, often takes on complicated topics, events and news and breaks it down by highlighting evidence and data. With “Health Populi’s Hot Points,” key take aways are provided that connect the dots of application through added analysis. It also gets me thinking of how the “what” of a news story impacts the “how” of everyday life and work.

Now it’s your turn–In the comments, name two blogs that get you thinking. This way, we can give our RSS readers a refresh for 2011.

9 thoughts on “Read to Think”

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Debra Askanase December 30, 2010 at 6:26 am

Alexandra – I don’t often make a comment on a blog about a twitter conversation, but this time I must. The twitter conversation we had last night was so informative because it gave me one of the two framework questions for thinking about which blogs to read. The other one framework that I use to judge whether or not a blog is worth following is what I learn: does the blog offer consistent insight and education about an area I want to learn about?

Here are my two blogs that meet these frameworks:
1. Shel Israel’s Global Neighborhoods: http://globalneighbourhoods.net/. Shel thinks a lot about social media, and is willing to challenge conventional thinking. He often asks readers to think about a different approach to citizen journalism, social media, and nonprofit technology.

2. Jeff Hurt’s blog: http://jeffhurtblog.com/. Jeff Hurt is an association conference planner, but his blog posts always touch on topics that are broader. Recent blog posts include “6 radical work changes coming in the next ten years” and “time to build bridges and create new brain alchemy.” He’s an original thinker and a generous blog commenter as well.

If I could, I would also include Beth Kanter’s blog: http://www.bethkanter.org/. I learn something new about how nonprofit organizations use social media in almost every single blog post.

@laurenlankford December 30, 2010 at 9:34 am

Definitely ‘Single Dad Laughing’ (http://www.danoah.com/) and ‘Make It Mad’ (http://makeitmad.com/).

Charley Hampton December 30, 2010 at 9:41 am

Easy.

1. Seth Godin: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

He posts often with short, insightful, out-of-the-box comments. Not a week goes by that I don’t learn something valuable from him.

2. Zen Habits: http://zenhabits.net/

Practical advice on making life and living simpler and more meaningful.

Lisa D. Jenkins December 30, 2010 at 9:54 am

Hands down, I think every time I read Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog: http://veryofficialblog.com/. She’s an addictive writer with an unassuming but wickedly sharp intelligence. I literally wait for new posts from her.

I also think when I read Julien Smith’s In Over Your Head http://inoveryourhead.net/. Julien’s writing is honest and candid and makes me want to view the world in new ways, which can’t be done without thinking.

Beth Kanter December 30, 2010 at 11:12 am

I discovered this post through Debra’s Tweet:http://twitter.com/#!/askdebra/status/20456541199011840

I took a little social media break this week – and some time to think about my online reading/learning habits. So, this discussion caught my attention.

Unlike Charley, I found the question to hard to answer .. maybe it is the getting back from vacation slowness but also I realized that I read a lot of sources/blogs and look for patterns than cite a favorite blogger.

After reading Debra’s framing: Does the blog offer consistent insight and education about an area I want to learn about?

I realize that I read to not only read to learn, but part of learning is seeing patterns — and I guess if I had to pin myself down to “favorite” bloggers I’d mention a few that do a good job of covering a wide range of sources.

Two come to mind.

Aliza Sherman (http://gigaom.com/author/alizasherman/) not only is she a superb writer, but she obviously reads widely and links to a wide number of sources.

Stephan Downs (http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=54473) who writes a blog and daily newsletter of links with some pithy, thoughtful commentary on them.

Anyway, thanks for the food for thought this morning

Alex Post authorDecember 30, 2010 at 12:00 pm

@Debra Thanks for making the exception and for sharing some excellent reads. I look forward to your full post on blogs to read in 2011 that I know you’re working on.

@Charley I will always remember when my mom told me about “K.I.S.S.” (Keep It Simple Silly). I’ll be sure to check out the Zen Habits blog as I could use more “simple” in my life. Thanks for sharing!

Alex Post authorDecember 30, 2010 at 12:10 pm

Also, for those who mentioned Seth Godin, you may be interested in this video interview he did about blogging (it’s about 30 seconds): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=livzJTIWlmY. Thanks to @Nedra on Twitter for bringing it to my attention!

Alex Post authorDecember 30, 2010 at 12:40 pm

@Beth Food for thought–that’s my favorite kind! Hope you had a good holiday. Thanks for sharing Stephan’s blog–I just visited and dang, does he have an impressive list of presentations about learning, education and more. If this were Facebook, I would *like* that in a heart beat.

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