In what may* become a series of posts here at $4MT, today I want to give some attention to a couple things that seem to be moving and shaking out there in TEFL-Blog-Land, this week’s “memes” if I may.
A meme (pronounced /ˈmiːm/, rhyming with “cream”) is a postulated unit of cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. (The etymology of the term relates to the Greek word μιμητισμός (pronounced /mɪmeɪtɪsmos/) for “something imitated”.)Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes, in that they self-replicate and respond to selective pressures.
The British scientist Richard Dawkins introduced the word “meme” in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a basis for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catch-phrases, beliefs (notably religious beliefs), clothing fashion, and the technology of building arches. (from Wikipedia)
First: evidently there’s something called the Edublog awards. This year they have caused a frenzy of TEFL bloggers nominating each other and being nominated by each other in a competition to see who can shower the most lavish and heartfelt praise onto whom. See Kalinago English, Burcu Akyol’s EFL blog, for examples.
Secondly, at his blog That’SLife, Gavin Dudeney touched off quite the sh*t-storm with a post which he entitled “On Going Public”, in which he made a very valid and cogent point about the sort of shameless self-promotion that’s rampant in Blog-Land, but in doing so sort of came off as a crotchety old man cursing the young whippersnappers who were horning in on his territory.
My personal take on this last one is this: The “hey! look at me!” aspect of life online can obviously get way out of hand, and when it does, it is very, very tacky behavior indeed. That’s the word I would use here: “Tacky.”
I think what got people riled up is that Mr. Dudeney seemed to be trying to turn it into a moral question: a question of “respect” and insisting that newbies show some “deference” to the old heads. For me, whether behavior such as for example “tweeting” or “retweeting your posts”(my, my, how the English language does change and grow…) ten times a day or thanking others for every single “retweet” is “right” or “wrong” or “disrespectful” is in my opinion a moot point. The most you can reasonably say is that it’s just poor form.
Sooo…with both of these points in mind (Edublog awards and online narcissism in language blogs), I felt it only right that I post my own nominations for the 2009 Edublog awards.
Ah, before I start, since “taking things a bit too seriously” seems to be coming into fashion, I would like to quickly point out that what follows IS A F*CKING JOKE. Just putting that out there.
Best individual blog: $trictly 4 my T.E.A.C.H.E.R.Z
Best individual tweeter: strictly_nicky
Best new blog: $trictly 4 my T.E.A.C.H.E.R.Z (depends on what your definition of “new” is)
Best resource sharing blog: $trictly 4 my T.E.A.C.H.E.R.Z
Most influential blog post: this is $trictly 4 my T.E.A.C.H.E.R.Z (from 2008 really, but who’s counting?)
Best teacher blog: $trictly 4 my T.E.A.C.H.E.R.Z
Best educational use of video / visual: $trictly 4 my T.E.A.C.H.E.R.Z
Lifetime achievement: me, myself, and I
*note the hedging quality of that modal verb may there…I say “may become a series” because I still haven’t followed up with Installment Two of the last series of posts I decided to inaugurate…
