People can blog for an infinite array of reasons, but for some students at The University of Alabama, blogging can provide focus, personal clarity and a way to improve one’s writing. More specifically, to students in the College of Communication & Information Sciences, blogs can transform into letter grades.

Glenn Griffin, a professor who teaches a course that requires students to post weekly on an “Idea Blog,” attests to the value of this Internet forum.

“Blogs come in many different categories,” Griffin said. “I think for creative people, a lot of them use blogs to not only show their work, but to trace its development, its inspiration, its origins. I think it makes for a really interesting opportunity to see the journey that a creative person takes in the creation of their work, rather than just the snapshots of their finished product.”

In addition, blogs provide artists and writers with a large focus group for their work, and they can gauge and present their work to a broader audience, not limited to their terrestrial surroundings.

In Griffin’s course, students are provided with prompts for blog posts, though they are allowed to submit one of their own. These prompts and blogs serve to improve students’ creativity because, as Griffin puts it, “The value to the individual [is] the self-examination that [blogging] affords because without being asked to write about how you came up with an idea or something that you’re inspired by – when would you have asked yourself that question without prompt?”

The concepts behind blogs vary, but the purpose can be the same.

“To be a writer, you just have to make people relate to you,” Erin Shelton, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and author of the blog Fashioneered, said. “So, I may not be the best at writing, but as long as I can portray what I’m trying to say or feel to other people and they understand it, they may consider that I’m a good writer.”

Shelton documents her personal style by photographing her daily ensembles and writing about her favorite designers.

“Blogging is a good release, too, if you don’t keep a journal or a diary and you want to tell someone what happened one day, then you can blog about it,” Shelton said.

Justin Holle, a junior majoring in international relations and Arabic, who is the author of the travel blog justinholle.org/Jordan, details his study abroad excursions for various reasons.

“I blog because it’s a great way to journal and reflect on my experiences, as well as keep my family [and] friends in touch,” said Holle, who is spending this entire academic year studying at the Jordanian Institute of Diplomacy.

Blogging can be a unifier of interests as well. Shelton said she hopes her experience with her fashion blog will let her keep her sideline in fashion alive.

“I’m an engineering major, so my first commitment right now is engineering, but eventually I would love to stay in the fashion industry part-time – any way I can do that.”

In the six months Shelton has blogged, she has been featured on various websites and even earned an internship as a Style Guru for CollegeFashionista.com.

Griffin said having a blog has more weight when applying for a job.

“One of the things I tell my students in terms of the value of a blog is that employers these days put so little value, for the most part, in a resume or that piece of paper that says something about us,” Griffin said. “[Blogging] is a way to communicate who you are as a human being without telling someone your life story in a job interview, when that wouldn’t really be appropriate.”

To anyone who still is apprehensive about beginning a blog, Shelton has advice: “Do it. If you love it, even if you’re not the best at it, you learn a lot. Do it. Try it.”