"Embracing Digital Literacies: A Study of First-Year Students’ Digital Compositions"

Blogging Genre Conventions (cont.)

Ryan also turns to his blog on Tumblr to publish writings that he is not comfortable sharing with other audiences. The majority of Ryan’s followers on Tumblr are all individuals with whom he shares common interests, rather than people he actually knows in person. This audience of shared values and beliefs allows Ryan the freedom to express opinions on personal topics and also to share and seek feedback for some of his creative writings. Ryan’s original publications on Tumblr include the first chapter of a mystery novel he is writing and pop punk song lyrics that he wrote in response to a falling out with a friend:

We never wanted it to end this way,

But I guess it’s pretty clear who couldn’t stay

So bring yourself around this time

and see if your name’s still a memory of mine,

I let it go and in the end, what remains of you

is just an unfinished “we used to … ”

Through their immersion in a variety of digital writing environments, students like Ryan and Natalie begin to understand and write different genres within different discourse communities. Ryan and Natalie in particular consciously choose which medium is most appropriate for the writings they wish to publish. While some of their genre knowledge is implicit, they demonstrate their own beginnings of writing expertise in the choices they make adhering to genre conventions.

Beaufort (2007) describes the purpose of her conceptual model by stating: “We are looking to teach … those broad concepts (discourse community, genre, rhetorical tools, etc.) which will give writers the tools to analyze similarities and differences among writing situations they encounter" (p. 149). As Beaufort notes, through teaching practices of genre analysis, students become empowered with strategies to apply and transfer to other writing situations. Recognizing the many ways that students are already writing and working within digital genres can only further help instructors to teach tools for genre analysis.

Participants’ discussions of the genres they write and their knowledge of the content required for genres within different discourse communities shows promise in their ability to be mindful and reflective of genre conventions. At the same time, student answers were mostly limited to issues of content; a few of my participants mentioned the importance of proofreading their online writing, yet none discussed other features of genre such as format or arrangement of the text. Understanding this area of weakness in some students’ genre knowledge can help instructors tailor their curriculum to address these needs. Teachers can, once again, start with what students know and begin discussion of genre by having students list the genres they already write, and discussing those genres. Teachers may find that, like participants in this study, students understand some conventions of genre, such as content, but are less aware of other nuances of genre, such as structure, organization, and vocabulary. Teachers can lead classes in analyzing these other conventions found in digital genres. Starting with a familiar context before moving to academic ones will help students continue to make meaningful connections between self-sponsored and school literacies.