The Foreign Service Journal, June 2011

that I might represent with the practi- cal steps I may be able to take in order to help them along the way. This is my job.” Life After Jerusalem http://lifeafterjerusalem.blogspot.com FSO blogger Digger is currently doing Estonian-language training in Washington, D.C. She describes her blog as “the musings of a two-spirit American Indian, public diplomacy- coned Foreign Service officer.” Before joining the Foreign Service, Digger was an archeologist and reporter for the Charleston Press and Courier . She blogs frequently on issues that affect her and her career. Foreign Service Family Members The spouses and partners of the Foreign Service make terrific bloggers! Their posts contain interesting stories and observations from their everyday lives that demonstrate how cultural dif- ferences affect the FS family while abroad. These blogs generally have greater longevity and more frequent updates than those run by FS employ- ees. Email from the Embassy http://emailfromtheembassy.blogspot. com Freelance writer andmother of four Donna Gorman entertains her readers with stories about the challenges and joys of living abroad as a family. She is now in Amman, following three years in China. A Jan. 19 post titled “Tiger Mom: The Story Just Won’t Die” ex- amines Amy Chua’s controversial book and Wall Street Journal editorial on parenting from the perspective of Donna’s experiences raising children in Beijing. Short Term Memory http://stmemory.wordpress.com Blogger Short Term Memory start- ed writing her blog in 2009 when her husband joined the Foreign Service. She is currently in Nicaragua with her husband and is on the register to be- come an FSO. She posts interesting in- sights on Nicaraguan culture, such as the local beliefs about temperature and disease, alongside chronicles of her everyday adventures. The Perlman Update www.theperlmanupdate.blogspot.com Foreign Service spouse Jill is a stay- at-home mom with two daughters, a son and “one crazy dog.” She has re- mained in the U.S. while her husband is on a one-year tour in Iraq. She up- dates her blog frequently, dealing hon- estly with the challenges and oppor- tunities of FS family life, living abroad and (currently) separation from her husband. Small Bits http://smallbitsFS.blogspot.com Becky started her blog in 2010 and updates it frequently. Her posts in- clude a section called “FS Kids,” which chronicles the experiences of her four children in the Foreign Service and of- fers parenting tips, such as how tomove 46 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 1 Joining the Blogosphere Getting Started First, the prospective blogger should decide on a topic and a purpose. Will it be like a newsletter of the family’s life at post written for friends and family back home? A daily chronicle of life in the Foreign Service? An insider’s commentary on world affairs? Selecting a Domain Once the blog’s topic is selected, the prospective blogger needs to find a domain to host the blog. More experienced Web- hands may wish to purchase their own do- main. However, most FS bloggers use the free and simpler domains. The most popu- lar among FS bloggers is Google’s Blogger (www.blogger.com or www.blogspot.com), although www.wordpress.com an d www. typepad.com ar e also common choices. Writing in the Nov. 2009 edition of the Jour- nal , former Editorial Intern Mark Hay recom- mended using Google’s Blogger because of its tagging and archiving abilities. Hosting Pictures Google’s blogger allows users to upload doc- uments, photos and other media. However, there are several reliable, free multimedia hosting sites. The most popular among FS bloggers is Flickr (www.flickr.com), wh ich includes privacy options, the ability to share photos with the Flickr community and op- tions to limit further distribution. Getting Plugged-In Introducing yourself around the FS blogos- phere is a great way to network and increase traffic at your blog. Get “plugged in” by reading and commenting on other blogs. Providing links to other FS blogs in the side- bar of your blog is also a good way to gain recognition within the community. Privacy and Security Security is a major concern of FS bloggers. Google’s blogger offers the option to require readers to e-mail the blogger a request be- fore viewing the blog’s content. However, very few FS bloggers choose to make their writings entirely private. Most keep their blogs public but are careful not to post any- thing potentially harmful. When FS bloggers are at hazardous posts, it is not uncommon for them to inform readers that they will no longer post certain information online for se- curity reasons. Disclaimer The majority of FS blogs contain a dis- claimer, often at the top of the right sidebar. The standard disclaimer states that the opin- ions expressed in the blog reflect only the opinions of the blogger, not the Department of State or the U.S. government. The Foreign Service blogosphere has quadrupled in size over the past three years.