I stumbled across an article in The Australian on 26th March titled, "Ghosts of blogging haunt net cemetery". The title is what caught my attention. I thought, hmmm, this will be great for my web log assignment. But, the idea of a net cemetery actually appealed to me as well. For some reason I associated it with a pet cemetery. I guess this is because my friends who are regular bloggers treat their blogging space as on would a pet.
This concept of a graveyard of words really intrigued me. After all, one of my favorite books, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, deals with the idea of a cemetery of forgotten books. The idea of a graveyard of words is delicious to me. Imagine the thoughts from these dead blogs one might stumble across in 100 years time. Who knows, it might be a great way for the future to discover what living now is like.
The abandonment of words appeals to my poetical insights (I see the world through strange eyes at the best of times). I love being surrounded with words. I have a wall of words in my bedroom, literally. I scrawl thought, poems, quotes, definitions and anything inspirational to me at a particular moment in time on my bedroom wall. I love how they look (visually), how they sound, taste, and what they mean, in a multitude of contexts and situations.
So, imagine if we could live inside the internet with words and the lives of people written in blogs floating around beside us. Definitely a concept for a story of some sort…
Back to the article… it reports “the extraordinary failure rate of online diaries” and claims that interest in blogging will soon begin a “precipitous slide”. Are blogs to become a “footnote in the history of computing”?
As much of an anti-blogger I deceive myself to be, I rather think this is an extreme prediction. After all, print journalism faced a dooms day ending with the ever increasing expansion of globalisation. Yet I am a young Australian and I read the newspaper every day (with my cappuccino of course). I even listen to ABC radio on my way to university. So, I guess that is something for the future of traditional journalism.
The expression “ghost blogs” actually appeals to me more than the positive reporting on the culture of blogging. Maybe this has something to do with my melancholy outlook but something about the abandonment of blogs as being a “suicide of your virtual self” makes me want to investigate this online culture further.
There are many "ghost blogs" circulating in the blogosphere and they can be ghosts in the sense this article and others suggest, or blogs about actual ghosts (there's a lot of strange things out there).
I did have a quiet chuckle to myself reading that blogging culture is turning the internet into a “dictatorship of idiots”. Although, I don’t totally agree with that. After all, the internet is a highly useful source of information and is useful in more ways than just as an outlet for teenage angst in the form of blogs.
The article concludes that “ghost blogs are abandoned simply because authors run out of things to say” or that other online trends become more exciting. This is the way of everyday life too I would think. If writing down thoughts or feelings is now becoming a bore, more than blogs would be under threat. A whole range of artistic expressions and even the whole discipline of literature would be under threat. No, I doubt that is the reason.
The second point makes more sense to me. There is just so much on the net. New blogging spaces to join and other internet trends become more appealing. So, the idea behind blogging isn’t dying it is actually spreading out.
Perhaps it is not quite a catastrophic at the article’s headline suggest.
INTRODUCTION...
This blog aims to show that blogs are a powerful communication tool and an effective means to reach people.
They are spreading quickly beyond their roots as platforms for teenage diary-scribblers into the business world, having grown from an outlet of tech-savvy geeks to something that has reached an almost mainstream level.
I provide background information and academic analysis on this new phenomenon spreading through the globalized world. I will discuss the different classifications and functions of blogs as well as the design principles involved, offering reviews of current media examples.
Hopefully I will be able to show how blogging has established itself as a new form of media publishing.
They are spreading quickly beyond their roots as platforms for teenage diary-scribblers into the business world, having grown from an outlet of tech-savvy geeks to something that has reached an almost mainstream level.
I provide background information and academic analysis on this new phenomenon spreading through the globalized world. I will discuss the different classifications and functions of blogs as well as the design principles involved, offering reviews of current media examples.
Hopefully I will be able to show how blogging has established itself as a new form of media publishing.
WHAT ARE BLOGS...
Blogs (short for web logs) are periodically updated journals, providing online commentary with minimal or no external editing. They are usually presented as a set of “posts”, individual entries of news or commentary, in reverse chronological order.
The posts often include hyperlinks to other sites; enabling commenter’s to draw upon the content of the entire World Wide Web (Drezner & Farrell 2004, p.1).
Blogs are a form and genre of a website. They are free from ‘web-design’, consist of ‘web-native content’ and are part of an ‘ecosystem’ (commonly referred to as a Blogosphere) (Nielson 2005, p.1).
Blogs are an ‘information-sharing tool’ with numerous possibilities. They are free and simple to use and offer commentary on a variety of topics (Lang 2005, p.38).
Ultimately, the greatest advantage of the blogosphere is its accessibility. It is the ease of use that assists the current explosion in the number of bloggers (or online diarists).
The posts often include hyperlinks to other sites; enabling commenter’s to draw upon the content of the entire World Wide Web (Drezner & Farrell 2004, p.1).
Blogs are a form and genre of a website. They are free from ‘web-design’, consist of ‘web-native content’ and are part of an ‘ecosystem’ (commonly referred to as a Blogosphere) (Nielson 2005, p.1).
Blogs are an ‘information-sharing tool’ with numerous possibilities. They are free and simple to use and offer commentary on a variety of topics (Lang 2005, p.38).
Ultimately, the greatest advantage of the blogosphere is its accessibility. It is the ease of use that assists the current explosion in the number of bloggers (or online diarists).
WHY BLOG...
In 1999, the total number of blogs was estimated to be around 50; five years later, the estimates range from 2.4 million to 4.1 million. The Perseus Development Corporation (a consulting firm that studies Internet trends) estimates that by 2005 more than 10 million blogs will have been created (Drezner & Farrell 2005, p.1).
We are currently in 2007 so one can imagine the number of blogs haunting the blogosphere today.
This tremendous growth rate must account for something. Just why do people blog?
In a media sense, bloggers purposefully harness the medium to promote wider awareness of their causes.
Most bloggers are ordinary citizens, reading and reacting to the world.
Bloggers blog as a form of personal communication and expression. Motivations include the desire to document, record and comment on life, as an outlet for thoughts and feelings and to express views in a community setting (Nardi et al 2004).
We are currently in 2007 so one can imagine the number of blogs haunting the blogosphere today.
This tremendous growth rate must account for something. Just why do people blog?
In a media sense, bloggers purposefully harness the medium to promote wider awareness of their causes.
Most bloggers are ordinary citizens, reading and reacting to the world.
Bloggers blog as a form of personal communication and expression. Motivations include the desire to document, record and comment on life, as an outlet for thoughts and feelings and to express views in a community setting (Nardi et al 2004).
DIFFERENT TYPES OF BLOGS...
Blogs can function as personal diaries, political analysis, advice columns on romance, computers, money, or all of the above (Drezner & Farrell 2005, p.1).
Blogs influence politics and they affect the content of international media coverage. Blogs have ignited national debates, exert agenda-setting power and are used as a new form of journalism.
These are bloggers. This is journalism. Raw, unedited, but still journalism (Beeson 2005, p.1).
Blogs influence politics and they affect the content of international media coverage. Blogs have ignited national debates, exert agenda-setting power and are used as a new form of journalism.
These are bloggers. This is journalism. Raw, unedited, but still journalism (Beeson 2005, p.1).
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REFLECTIONS...
Looking back on the whole process of creating this blog I’m surprised to find that I enjoyed myself. Actually, I’m even taking pride in it.
I say that I am surprised because to begin with I wasn’t too enthused at the idea. Rather, I thought blogging to be pedestrian and mundane, something reserved for those who had nothing better to do with their time. Plus, it was a little too dorky for my attention span (so I thought).
However, I’ve embarked on a learning curve (a cycle of sorts) and I feel as though I’m developing a new literacy.
I’ve acquired valuable skills (basic HTML editing, web navigation, how to add hyperlinks and the function they perform, research using the World Wide Web, as well as technological and cultural appreciation).
I’m now applying these new skills to my uni work and to other aspects of my life. For instance, my MySpace page has had a tech-savvy facelift since learning HTML editing. Now, I don’t have to rely on layouts created by others but I can explore (through trial and error) how to create my own (now I can have layouts I actually like). Yay!
Whilst I didn’t post regularly in the beginning, in the last fortnight, I have been logging in and editing and reading over my postings, including hyperlinks, correcting design errors and checking for feedback on a daily basis.
I was constantly thinking about the whole process from the beginning though, collecting appropriate articles to review. This meant that I would grab a paper and a coffee each day and scan for articles I thought interesting and relevant.
I also found the database Factiva to be a valuable resource for articles. However, Factiva presented numerous problems in the end. Basically, the articles I’d found on Factiva have all been archived and I couldn’t provide links to a lot of the sources I’ve used in this blog. Links are, as I now know, used to validate a blog and show its credibility.
Other problems I faced (apart from the initial lack of motivation and knowledge as to what a blog can be used for) were more simplistic and thus easily fixed. Such as: format, layout, appropriate language, hyperlink activity, interactivity of a page, as well as more mundane things such as spelling errors ( I actually got into a habit of cut and pasting my posts into a Word Document for editing, as I’m sure bad grammar and spelling mistakes would lessen the credibility of my blog).
Theoretically, I found the design aspects I researched to be highly practical. I can see how design shapes a document and how different designs are appropriate in different circumstances and contexts, as well as for different mediums.
As a blogger, I feel empowered and inspired. I’m interested in the notion of citizen journalism and in the remarkable growth rate of blogging. Browsing through the blogs of others (especially those posted on the Student Portal to assist us with these blogs) helped me understand the importance and beauty of blogging. It really is a great way to reach people and a space to read and react to the world I live in.
Whilst I feel that my blog is a bit of a yawn, the articles I have included were of interest to me and have turned me from my cynic beginnings into an avid blogger who has only just begun. After all, I have developed throughout this whole process and this medium has allowed me to do so.
As I’ve mentioned, in the beginning I was somewhat narrow minded (sheltered and inexperienced perhaps). I took the whole assignment as a bit of a joke, as exemplified with my very first posting (and this is why I have left it up).
Now, I see blogs for what they are: a phenomenon. Blogs really are a new and exciting communicative tool. They are an effective, accessible means to reach people, to articulate thoughts and feelings and to provide a commentary (in this case about blogs themselves).
I’m even contemplating continuing this blog (or starting a fresh one), something I’d never have thought of at the time of my initial posting.
Yet, I’m not sure if keeping a blog could replace my numerous scrawled-in notebooks and journals. I mean I can’t exactly sit on my roof with a ciggie and type away at a blog.
Then again, if I get a laptop notebook then it could very well keep me company on the rooftop where I can spill out my swimming thoughts straight into a blog and post it for the entire world to read.
Who knows… I definitely don’t want to lag behind culture and technology with nothing to show apart from an ugly writers bump on my index finger.
I say that I am surprised because to begin with I wasn’t too enthused at the idea. Rather, I thought blogging to be pedestrian and mundane, something reserved for those who had nothing better to do with their time. Plus, it was a little too dorky for my attention span (so I thought).
However, I’ve embarked on a learning curve (a cycle of sorts) and I feel as though I’m developing a new literacy.
I’ve acquired valuable skills (basic HTML editing, web navigation, how to add hyperlinks and the function they perform, research using the World Wide Web, as well as technological and cultural appreciation).
I’m now applying these new skills to my uni work and to other aspects of my life. For instance, my MySpace page has had a tech-savvy facelift since learning HTML editing. Now, I don’t have to rely on layouts created by others but I can explore (through trial and error) how to create my own (now I can have layouts I actually like). Yay!
Whilst I didn’t post regularly in the beginning, in the last fortnight, I have been logging in and editing and reading over my postings, including hyperlinks, correcting design errors and checking for feedback on a daily basis.
I was constantly thinking about the whole process from the beginning though, collecting appropriate articles to review. This meant that I would grab a paper and a coffee each day and scan for articles I thought interesting and relevant.
I also found the database Factiva to be a valuable resource for articles. However, Factiva presented numerous problems in the end. Basically, the articles I’d found on Factiva have all been archived and I couldn’t provide links to a lot of the sources I’ve used in this blog. Links are, as I now know, used to validate a blog and show its credibility.
Other problems I faced (apart from the initial lack of motivation and knowledge as to what a blog can be used for) were more simplistic and thus easily fixed. Such as: format, layout, appropriate language, hyperlink activity, interactivity of a page, as well as more mundane things such as spelling errors ( I actually got into a habit of cut and pasting my posts into a Word Document for editing, as I’m sure bad grammar and spelling mistakes would lessen the credibility of my blog).
Theoretically, I found the design aspects I researched to be highly practical. I can see how design shapes a document and how different designs are appropriate in different circumstances and contexts, as well as for different mediums.
As a blogger, I feel empowered and inspired. I’m interested in the notion of citizen journalism and in the remarkable growth rate of blogging. Browsing through the blogs of others (especially those posted on the Student Portal to assist us with these blogs) helped me understand the importance and beauty of blogging. It really is a great way to reach people and a space to read and react to the world I live in.
Whilst I feel that my blog is a bit of a yawn, the articles I have included were of interest to me and have turned me from my cynic beginnings into an avid blogger who has only just begun. After all, I have developed throughout this whole process and this medium has allowed me to do so.
As I’ve mentioned, in the beginning I was somewhat narrow minded (sheltered and inexperienced perhaps). I took the whole assignment as a bit of a joke, as exemplified with my very first posting (and this is why I have left it up).
Now, I see blogs for what they are: a phenomenon. Blogs really are a new and exciting communicative tool. They are an effective, accessible means to reach people, to articulate thoughts and feelings and to provide a commentary (in this case about blogs themselves).
I’m even contemplating continuing this blog (or starting a fresh one), something I’d never have thought of at the time of my initial posting.
Yet, I’m not sure if keeping a blog could replace my numerous scrawled-in notebooks and journals. I mean I can’t exactly sit on my roof with a ciggie and type away at a blog.
Then again, if I get a laptop notebook then it could very well keep me company on the rooftop where I can spill out my swimming thoughts straight into a blog and post it for the entire world to read.
Who knows… I definitely don’t want to lag behind culture and technology with nothing to show apart from an ugly writers bump on my index finger.
REFERENCE LIST
Beeson, P 2005, ‘Blogging: what is it? And how has it affected the media?, in The Quill, Vol. 93, No. 2, Information Access Company
Darley, A 2000, Visual Culture: surface play and spectacle in new media, Routledge, London, pp. 37-57.
Darley, A 2000, Visual Culture: surface play and spectacle in new media, Routledge, London, pp. 147-166.
Drezner, DM & Farrell H 2004, ‘Web of Influence’, in Foreign Policy, Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company
Flew, T 2002, New media: an introduction, Oxford, New York.
Hayles, NK 1993, ‘The seductions of Cyberspace’, in Rethinking Technology, Conley, V (ed), Andermatt, University of Minnesota.
Heaney, C 2007, ‘Blogging taps market’, in the Herald Sun
Kress, G 1997, ‘Visual and verbal modes of representation: electronically mediated communication: the potentials of new forms of text', in Snyder, Ilana (ed) 1997, Page to screen: taking literacy into the electronic era, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, Chapter 3, pp. 53-79.
Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 1998, ‘Front pages: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout’, in Bell, Allan & Garrett (eds) 1998, Approaches to media discourse, Blackwell, Oxford, Chapter 7, pp. 186-219.
Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, Reading images: the grammar of visual design, 2nd edn, Routledge, London, Chapter 4, pp.114-153.
Lang, EM 2005, ‘Would You, Could You, Should You Blog?’ in Journal of Accountancy, June 2005, pp. 36-42
Nardi, BA, Schiano, DJ, Gumbrecht M & Swartz L 2004, ‘Why we Blog’, in Communications of the ACM, Vol. 47, No. 12, pp. 41-46
Nielson, J 2005, ‘The Advertiser
Darley, A 2000, Visual Culture: surface play and spectacle in new media, Routledge, London, pp. 37-57.
Darley, A 2000, Visual Culture: surface play and spectacle in new media, Routledge, London, pp. 147-166.
Drezner, DM & Farrell H 2004, ‘Web of Influence’, in Foreign Policy, Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company
Flew, T 2002, New media: an introduction, Oxford, New York.
Hayles, NK 1993, ‘The seductions of Cyberspace’, in Rethinking Technology, Conley, V (ed), Andermatt, University of Minnesota.
Heaney, C 2007, ‘Blogging taps market’, in the Herald Sun
Kress, G 1997, ‘Visual and verbal modes of representation: electronically mediated communication: the potentials of new forms of text', in Snyder, Ilana (ed) 1997, Page to screen: taking literacy into the electronic era, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, Chapter 3, pp. 53-79.
Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 1998, ‘Front pages: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout’, in Bell, Allan & Garrett (eds) 1998, Approaches to media discourse, Blackwell, Oxford, Chapter 7, pp. 186-219.
Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, Reading images: the grammar of visual design, 2nd edn, Routledge, London, Chapter 4, pp.114-153.
Lang, EM 2005, ‘Would You, Could You, Should You Blog?’ in Journal of Accountancy, June 2005, pp. 36-42
Nardi, BA, Schiano, DJ, Gumbrecht M & Swartz L 2004, ‘Why we Blog’, in Communications of the ACM, Vol. 47, No. 12, pp. 41-46
Nielson, J 2005, ‘The Advertiser
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