This is it. The last module for my project. What is the half life of a blog when the creator does not log in anymore? Do they float around in cyberspace until then end of creation, or when the main server needs to clear space (whichever comes first). Doubtful I will add anything after the class is finished. When I run for president, I suppose some journalist will find this site and use it against me somehow.
I looked at a few vanity and info blogs before settling on these two;
http://www.zedshaw.com/blog/index.html
http://barcelonaphotoblog.blogspot.com/
The first one is a "vanity" blog, concerning the life and opinions of a guy named "Zed". His so called vanity is tongue in cheek and obviously meant to be taken as humor. The second blog is a photo blog pertaining to Barcelona, Spain (which is where I am heading this fall).
There is absolutely no way to compare these two blogs, as they are as different as a grape and a gorilla. The only similarity is they list the profile of the author. Their differences are many. The travel blog offers no opinions, whereas the vanity blog is full of them. The travel blogs author simply takes what he is interested in, photography, and shows it to the world. He just uses a beautiful medium in a picturesque location and comments on the pictures. Very fascinating photos. The other blog, while at times humorous, does nothing for me. I don't care who the person is, what his opinions are or what he had for breakfast.
As with my other posts, I don't see how this type of blogging can have an impact on print journalism. Especially the vanity blog. I can not even begin to answer the question of what makes a good vanity blog. Who cares. Life is way to short to read endless blogs about somebody and their opinions, or life in general. If I knew this person, I would prefer to spend time with them and find out this information. An info blog on the other hand is a great way to find information pertaining to your particular topic at hand. As with other sites on the internet, you must be able to determine whether or not the information is truthful, which can easily be done by visiting other sites to see if you can find the same information.
I believe this supports my original theory that blogging does not significantly impact print journalism.
Have a good life everyone, you only get one go at it!!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
the pros vs. the rookies
My assignment this week was to compare/contrast current events information contained in a webzine and a blog.
I looked at Newsweek.com and found all the information I have come to know as "news". Almost anything you wanted to know about what has occurred in the world lately was there for the asking. I next went to the current events section of a site named wordpress.com and looked at various articles, several of which dealt with Martin Luther King, Jr. The good news was they each had articles on current events. That is pretty much where the similarities ended.
Newsweek had a much more efficient lineup, easier to navigate, more information, etc. It was professionally written, and if you desire, they also have blogs to read which are linked to their site. Wordpress blogs on the other hand is quite simply opinion. The bloggers make very little attempt to verify claims, dispute "facts", or look outside the box. It is a salacious attempt to sway peoples opinions. It's as if they are saying...it's my opinion, but it should be everybody's.
While I am sure there are very committed people out there, who may have a background in journalism, and operate a very professional blog. I was unfortunately unable to find very few of them. Michael Yon is still at the top of my list, and puts to shame many if not all professional journalists.
Based on this, I would say my results strongly support my original opinion.
I looked at Newsweek.com and found all the information I have come to know as "news". Almost anything you wanted to know about what has occurred in the world lately was there for the asking. I next went to the current events section of a site named wordpress.com and looked at various articles, several of which dealt with Martin Luther King, Jr. The good news was they each had articles on current events. That is pretty much where the similarities ended.
Newsweek had a much more efficient lineup, easier to navigate, more information, etc. It was professionally written, and if you desire, they also have blogs to read which are linked to their site. Wordpress blogs on the other hand is quite simply opinion. The bloggers make very little attempt to verify claims, dispute "facts", or look outside the box. It is a salacious attempt to sway peoples opinions. It's as if they are saying...it's my opinion, but it should be everybody's.
While I am sure there are very committed people out there, who may have a background in journalism, and operate a very professional blog. I was unfortunately unable to find very few of them. Michael Yon is still at the top of my list, and puts to shame many if not all professional journalists.
Based on this, I would say my results strongly support my original opinion.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Entrepreneurs and blogging...aka...buy stuff from me
Hi all, this weeks portion of the class is about how blogging assists entrepreneurs. I have linked to a blog which belongs to a friend of mine. She is deep, deep, deep, into stamping and scrapbooking. This cult (I mean hobby) meets at her home quite regularly where they all stamp and scrap to their hearts content. She sells supplies, and also her skills/knowledge when someone else wants to host a party. While she does not really offer anything for sell over the internet, she networks her friends and any related information into her blog.
http://geekgirl415.wordpress.com/
Several sites on the internet discuss this phenomenon of blogging to promote a business. One of them, http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/ecommerce/a/bblogs.htm, lists numerous examples of why blogging is a great way to connect with customers. It also explains that while a business website is a great tool, a blog on the other hand is an easy, non technical way to spread information about you, your product and information.
This article, http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/09/01/8384325/, written a little over a year ago, details the blog of a person who quite obviously did well for himself using a blog. The article discusses other successful blogs, and lessons learned from them.
There are in fact other ways entrepreneurs can let people know about them. Websites, print advertising, billboards, etc. I have to admit, for a small business owner with limited funds, a blog appears to be a very inexpensive alternative. And if done properly (and with the right business model for your widget) it can be a successful form of advertising. Additionally, as I mentioned above, a blog requires almost no technical skills in order to make it work.
While I am not convinced that everyone can be successful simply from putting their business info on a blog, there are cases cited from the above links where people have benefited greatly from them. I don't think this is going to put much of a dent in print advertising, nor does it change my original opinion on bloggings impact on print journalism. Furthermore, I see no evidence that it has done so, and as such I believe this somewhat supports my theory that print journalism is not suffering due to blogging.
And your thoughts are...?
http://geekgirl415.wordpress.com/
Several sites on the internet discuss this phenomenon of blogging to promote a business. One of them, http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/ecommerce/a/bblogs.htm, lists numerous examples of why blogging is a great way to connect with customers. It also explains that while a business website is a great tool, a blog on the other hand is an easy, non technical way to spread information about you, your product and information.
This article, http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/09/01/8384325/, written a little over a year ago, details the blog of a person who quite obviously did well for himself using a blog. The article discusses other successful blogs, and lessons learned from them.
There are in fact other ways entrepreneurs can let people know about them. Websites, print advertising, billboards, etc. I have to admit, for a small business owner with limited funds, a blog appears to be a very inexpensive alternative. And if done properly (and with the right business model for your widget) it can be a successful form of advertising. Additionally, as I mentioned above, a blog requires almost no technical skills in order to make it work.
While I am not convinced that everyone can be successful simply from putting their business info on a blog, there are cases cited from the above links where people have benefited greatly from them. I don't think this is going to put much of a dent in print advertising, nor does it change my original opinion on bloggings impact on print journalism. Furthermore, I see no evidence that it has done so, and as such I believe this somewhat supports my theory that print journalism is not suffering due to blogging.
And your thoughts are...?
Friday, January 4, 2008
blogging and real journalism
Hi all, my name is Terry and I am a student taking an online media class with College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, CA. Our project for the class is to set up a blog using a topic selected by the instructor. This is my first experience with blogs, other than the assorted ones I may read when they are part of CNN or Fox news sites. I prefer to get my news from print, althought I am not opposed to reading online through the day if there is an interesting story.
Prior to posting this, I conducted research on several issues. These are as follows;
1. Is blogging a credible source of information?
2. How effective is blogging, ie. are blogs effective at reaching an audience?
3. How has blogging influenced journalism?
My research has found (drum roll please)...it depends on who is writing the article. The majority of websites I found pertaining to these issues appear to be written by bloggers. I noticed that sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between that of a blog and "real news" (at least it is to me). I read several articles on the issue as it relates to my local "rag". Their editors have formed the opinion that they must change in order to better suit their readers. But blogging was not specifically mentioned as the reason for this, instead it seemed to be from a sense of "why buy a paper when I can get the news for free" attitude.
So without further ado, I am diving into this debate with the following opinion;
I do not agree that blogging has significantly impacted the print journalism industry.
Other than the reasons stated above, I think that blogging has some severe credibility issues. Obviously it depends on whose blog you are reading. After using the internet for numerous years, I have found that many lies are propagated from people who have no clue what they are talking about. Now, I may not agree with a "professional" journalist, but you know they usually have several layers to go through in order to have their info published. You know, the nefarious "gatekeepers", editors, etc. Bloggers are the gatekeepers. The old adage, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably isn't, comes to mind. Some however, like Michael Yon, who regularly reports from Iraq, seem to have a good handle on it. Being a former military guy, I like his first hand account of what is happening.
Blogging obviously has huge influence, especially in younger adults, as they have been raised with computers and are quite computer literate. They are also much easier to influence than a guy like me in my mid 40's . I think (my opinion again) that as people mature, buy homes, raise children and become members of the community, they want the newspaper to inform them of what is happening in their world. Sure they may stray to the computer to learn about obscure facts from blogs from people all over the world, but for real news about the community it takes a news team to deliver that.
So I will end my first post with this thought. How enjoyable is it to settle in a comfortable chair on a rainy, Sunday morning. Drinking a cup of coffee, balancing your laptop on your lap while reading the news? No thanks, give me a good old newspaper (or book for that matter).
Prior to posting this, I conducted research on several issues. These are as follows;
1. Is blogging a credible source of information?
2. How effective is blogging, ie. are blogs effective at reaching an audience?
3. How has blogging influenced journalism?
My research has found (drum roll please)...it depends on who is writing the article. The majority of websites I found pertaining to these issues appear to be written by bloggers. I noticed that sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between that of a blog and "real news" (at least it is to me). I read several articles on the issue as it relates to my local "rag". Their editors have formed the opinion that they must change in order to better suit their readers. But blogging was not specifically mentioned as the reason for this, instead it seemed to be from a sense of "why buy a paper when I can get the news for free" attitude.
So without further ado, I am diving into this debate with the following opinion;
I do not agree that blogging has significantly impacted the print journalism industry.
Other than the reasons stated above, I think that blogging has some severe credibility issues. Obviously it depends on whose blog you are reading. After using the internet for numerous years, I have found that many lies are propagated from people who have no clue what they are talking about. Now, I may not agree with a "professional" journalist, but you know they usually have several layers to go through in order to have their info published. You know, the nefarious "gatekeepers", editors, etc. Bloggers are the gatekeepers. The old adage, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably isn't, comes to mind. Some however, like Michael Yon, who regularly reports from Iraq, seem to have a good handle on it. Being a former military guy, I like his first hand account of what is happening.
Blogging obviously has huge influence, especially in younger adults, as they have been raised with computers and are quite computer literate. They are also much easier to influence than a guy like me in my mid 40's . I think (my opinion again) that as people mature, buy homes, raise children and become members of the community, they want the newspaper to inform them of what is happening in their world. Sure they may stray to the computer to learn about obscure facts from blogs from people all over the world, but for real news about the community it takes a news team to deliver that.
So I will end my first post with this thought. How enjoyable is it to settle in a comfortable chair on a rainy, Sunday morning. Drinking a cup of coffee, balancing your laptop on your lap while reading the news? No thanks, give me a good old newspaper (or book for that matter).
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