Seven tips for political science blog

7 tips for political science blog
English only – use English to reach the wider audience as much as possible
Be short – don’t use length texts of more than 140 or so words
Don’t limit your audience to those of professional community
Don’t put all eggs in one basket – post in various outlets and accounts
Don’t have much expectations at the initial phases of your project
Design your blog for people who has no previous background in your field of study
Use various formats beyond textual ones, including video, photo and other graphics
This is a presentation on how to create effective political science blog, that is based on my previous experiences for the last one and a half year. I hope it would be helpful for people who want to create their own political science blogs, particularly at the initial phases of the projects in a field. I also hope that these tips would be of use for those who want to prevent the mistakes that are typical for many bloggers who just started their electronic activities.

Why political science blog?
political science blog is not a political one, because it is not about expressing political views or values
political science blog is based on scientific treatment of politics and knowledge of the discipline
political science blog is intended primarily not for political scientists, but for a wider audience
that’s why, use simple language in your posts, understandable for non-professionals
I will describe a difference between political science and political blogs as they are; in fact many people often confuse these genres when discuss politics and the related topics. I will demonstrate however, that political science has much in difference with political blogs when it comes to the aims and purposes. Political science genuinely aims to disseminate knowledge, while political blogs are intended for expressing political views and opinions.

Design of a political science blog
make your profile picture closest to your real life image, don’t choose the ‘best’ photos
make your cover photo possibly unofficial, don’t choose the ‘official’ styles for your covers
fill in all the suggested forms in a webpage, don’t leave empty spaces or tabs
make your introduction section simple to read, do not make it all-encompassing or extensive
As a popular idiom says, ‘you are judged by appearances at first, but by your mind later on’. That is why a design of a political blog is crucial for its key message to help people to have the first impressions from your blog to make decision whether to follow it. I argue however that the design of a political science blog should be possibly simple and easy-to-learn so that people could understand, why should they follow it.

Management of a political science blog
publish posts regularly so people could keep in touch with your activities
use video posts to make people known of your latest impressions, but don’t use Live video instead
don’t use your public pages in cases that are not primarily connected to your current activities
don’t use your post publishing too often so do not bother people by your most recent activities
In this section, I’ll describe the process of every day communication and running up the political science blog that is essential to keep a contact with the audience. I suggest then that political science blog should use various formats beyond textual ones, including videos, photos and other graphical formats. I also argue that such blog should be updated regularly to maintenance the contact with the audience.