The blog may be restricted to a learning community, members of which will have specifically been granted access. The advantage of this is that collaborative learning and development of identity may still be encouraged, but the potentially inhibiting fear of the open-to-all blog has been removed. Cameron and Anderson (2006) see as the feeling of safety and sense that contributions will be treated with respect as being essential to projection of the real self, and cite LeFever (2004) who argues that within this controlled environment 'the value of a blog then shifts from comments made to ideas presented' which permits the development of an online identity that projects the 'true' self.
The restricted nature also allows the tutor a more active role in guiding discussion and encouraging constructive feedback which assists student development, as opposed to the potentially discouraging or ambiguous feedback learners might obtain if the blog were accessible to wider readership. Smith (2003) sees comments from classmates as important to building 'a useful and writerly sense of weblog audience' and wants to see students increasing the quality of their writing and practising critical skills through responding to each other's work.5 Downes (2004), too, sees the engagement of a student in a community as essential to the success of blogging, and Allen (1999) stresses the importance of the learning community in enabling a shift from a 'one-way flow of information' to conversations which enable the construction of knowledge 'through discussion and exploration' within supportive learning environments.
A further advantage of the restricted space is that it allows for honest self-expression between students regarding their shared experience. A study on isolation and alienation experienced by students in online learning (Placing et al 2007, citing Dickey 2004) revealed that, through sharing emotions and anxieties with one another, the blog reduced students' sense of isolation.