Tried to post these as comments, got a word verification pop-up box that said "Loading..." and never loaded, so posting these as a separate post that will hopefully show up.

Reply to lauren: I agree that this course is completely different from other class in the university, but the lack of regulations is a bit daunting. There are no set topics to post on and no real rules imposed. While those are limiting, they can also guide lost posters (including me!) to post something, even when it feels more obligatory rather than the need to share something insightful or interesting. Plus, this blog is so different from personal blogs, including liverjournal which you mentioned, that the difference is kind of jarring. Basically, open is good, open is freeing, but too open is...too much, with so many possible topics to post on and finding the proper blog voice as Abbyz said. For me, the prompt is a very welcome thing as I hope I can use it like a crutch to get more comfortable with posting here and then, posting prompt-less posts.

Reply to AbbyZ: Definitely, I'm also struggling to find both topics and the proper voice to use in this blog/forum thing. While I too, want to be informal, I want to sound informed and insightful too, rather than blurting out my reaction to the reading or something else. There's this disparity between the want to be informal and/or spontaneous and the need to contribute to the blog, that creates tension.