Ethical Blogging

Biz Stone’s book “Who Let the Blogs Out?” (mentioned in previous post) has made a serious impact on my blogging experience. Reflecting back on his book I recall a situation he mentioned where a high school girl created the character of a young female suffering from cancer. Many people started reading the blog and began to sympathize with this girl and the struggle she was facing. They followed her throughout her illness, into a recovery, and then through a relapse which eventually took her life.

It was discovered through later research that this blog was a hoax. This teaches me as a blog reader to always remember that you do not know who the writer may be. According to the Cybertext Yearbook 2000 by Jill Walker there is a model of narrative communication used in most forms of writing. There is the “real author,” “implied author,” “narrator,” “narratee,” “implied reader,” and “real reader.”

This example comes into play with the phoney blog created that Stone mentioned in his book. The “real author” was the teenage girl who was creating the “implied author” of this female with an illness. Was creating this character an ethical way for the “real author” to treat her “real readers?”

I, myself was in a similar situation over the summer. But I was not creating a fake blog as a way to manipulate the readers for my own enjoyment, like I assume was the goal of the hoax blog's writer. I thought the blog would be an interesting way to promote a movie that the production company I was working for this summer had created.

Double R Productions, was creating a moc-umentary entitled Farmland Security. I thought it would be interesting to create a blog that followed the characters through the situations that was unfolding. Which to the audience the movie was supposed to be an actual documentary. (Think Blair Witch Project with a political spin.) The blog would not be displayed as an advertisement for the movie, but as a real blog that would hopefully entice its readers to want to see the movie that would play out the actual events of this blog.

Unfortunately this idea never got off the ground. I did not know very much about blogs at the time and I was not sure of how to exactly go about starting a blog. But after reading the Stone article I am now grateful that I did not create the blog. I do not think it would have been ethical to create a false blog. It seems wrong to manipulate my "real audience" by creating an "implied author."

Blogging Double Standards

Before I started my own blog I always viewed this medium as a very informal way of writing. I did not think of it as a legitimate form of journalism, like a newspaper or magazine. I expected blogs to be a very casual form of writing. Anyone can sit down in front of their computer and just start rambling on to anyone who will listen. The title of my blog proves the biggest misconception I had about blogging from the beginning. I named my blog before I knew anything about the practice of blogging.

I never realized that like anything else in this world, there are rules that one must follow. After reading 10 Tips on Writing the Living Web by Mark Bernstein I learned there was much more to blog writing than I ever thought. The same rules that one would apply to when writing anything that will be viewed by the public should be considered when creating a blog. Writers should remember the audience they are trying to address in their work, and they should also make sure to use proper grammar and spelling. Reading a artical w/alot typows can b anoying 2 there reeder.

To me blog writing has a silent double standard. Blog writing is viewed as an individual’s online diary, available for anyone to see. A way for the writer to vent about whatever he or she is feeling at that exact moment in time. But according to Bernstrein this shouldn't be the case. One doesn’t only have to read this article to figure out that you do not want to read an entire post like the italic sentence above. There is a certain standard one must follow when posting a blog. I am not saying that you have to hire an editor to correct your work, but at least be considerate of your audience.

Im it...

I found this recently while I was blog browsing. It seemed like a fun little game.

Four jobs you've had in your life:
Production Assistant Intern
Office Assistant
Dance Teacher
Camp Counselor

Four movies you would watch over and over:
Scream
Billy Madison
Happy Gilmore
Empire Records

Four places you have lived:
Brooklyn, NY
Washington, DC
Fairfield, CT
Florence, Italy

Four T.V. shows you love to watch:
Friends
The OC
That 70s Show
24

Four places you have been on vacation:
Malibu, CA
Everywhere in Florida
Dominican Republic
Bahamas

Four websites you visit daily:
Google
Facebook
IMDB
Blogger

Four of your favorite foods:
Pizza
Pasta
Hamburger
Anything with HOTSAUCE

Four places you would rather be right now:
Anywhere with a beach, the sun, and a piña colada.

TAG YOU'RE IT NOW...

An Olympic Event

Due to my hectic schedule I am unable to follow the Olympic games. But the true Patriot that I am, I want to be up to date on how well America is doing in the games. I was aware that I needed to find a good website to keep me up to date on all the events and scandals surrounding the Olympics. Basically I needed a cliff's notes guide to the events of every day.

At first I thought the best place for this information would be the Official website of the Olympics. But that site was only giving me general information about the Olympic games in Torino. I luckily stumbled across NBC's coverage of the games, and this is exactly the type of site I wanted. This site was more focused on America and their progress. (Duh it was an American site.)

The site has video replays of competitions, news stories, and even their own blogs dedicated to Torino's events. The feature of the site that I liked the best was the fact that there was a medals chart right on the main page. This is what the Official Olympics page was lacking. When I log on to this site I want to acquire my desired information as quick as possible. That information is “How many medals do the Americans have?” and “If they are loosing, who is it to?” I like to thank NBC personally for being so user friendly.

The NBC site, like I mentioned before, offers a blog. This feature is really interesting. Being able to read commentary from people who are actually at the games. I do not recall having this first hand account of the Summer Olympics two years ago. (It is also quite possible that there were hundreds of blogs around, but I just didn't notice them.)

I have not had the time to look into it yet, but I bet it would be really interesting to find a blog written personally by an athlete participating in the games. To read the first hand accounts of their experiences competing in each event. The trials and tribulations. The wins and losses. Maybe if these athletes published a blog someone might read it and offer them a book deal. (Isn't this the main reason to write a blog?)

God has Reached the Net

This weekend I attended for the first time a religious ceremony that wasn’t Roman Catholic. I took part in Sunday services at a Christian Church called Liquid. This experience was very different than anything I was ever used to seeing in all my days as a practicing Catholic.

Not only was there a rock band performing before and after church, but the entire service was done on PowerPoint. There was also an announcement about the fact that the entire service was being broadcasted via the internet through a web cam.

I always knew that people had access to anything they could possibly think of through the World Wide Web, but I never thought about broadcasting a religious service online. To me it seems almost sacrilegious to watch a service over the internet and consider this fulfilling a persons weekly obligation to going to church.

What is this world coming to when we think it is acceptable to attend church online? People seem to have absolutely no reason to leave their computer screens anymore. They can receive an education, go shopping, order food, do their taxes, and now thanks to Church Liquid they can attend a religious ceremony.

I’d say what next can the Internet bring society, but my question has recently been answered. I just came access this article about a many who was trying to sell his soul on e bay.

Where Have all the Boggers Gone?

Dr. David Gudelunas, came to speak to the ENW 350 Digital Writing class because he is experienced in the world of blogs. The thing most interesting to learn about Gudelunas is that he himself doesn’t have his own blog. He is just an avid blog reader. Dr. Gudelunas posed a question during his lecture asking “Why people aren’t blogging?”

He stood in front of a class of twenty or so students who were in the beginning stages of creating their own blogs and barely any of them had ever had a blog before this class, or do any of them continuously read any blogs. This does seem strange. We live in a world where a new blog is created about every second, there are over 80,000 blogs created daily. So where are all these bloggers?

Blogging has definetly made its way into the mainstream. There is a huge billboard for blogging from At&t on I-95 in Connecticut and it’s even become a new fashion trend. If this is the case how could there be an entire class of students who aren’t blogging?

Step 1: Admitting there is a Problem

My name is Janine and I have a problem. They say first step in facing your addiction is admitting it.

It seems that now everything in my life seems to revolve around blogging. I love to bring up blogging in every conversation I have. Just yesterday I persuaded my cousin to set up an entire blog about my six-month old godson Sean. I informed her it would be a great way to record his growth and development, plus it gives the out of town relatives a chance to see what is going on in his life.

When I am not trying to get everyone in my life to create a blog I am obsessing about my own blog. I can’t help but think “Wow that would make a great posting” with every new thing I experience. Lets not forget the amazingly clever title's that love to come to me at 3am, when I am trying to sleep. Blogging has taken over my life.

I have even figured out how to incorporate blogging into my other classes. I decided to set up a blog for my Jewish Literature class. One of our assignments for the year is to keep a reading journal. I decided I will keep this journal digitally and post all my entries. After completing the “Who let the Blogs Out” book by Biz Stone I came to the conclusion “Why shouldn’t I share these thoughts with the public?” My thoughts are origional and should be out there for everyone to read and comment on, not just my professor.

Maybe this will spark a new craze in combining technology with the classroom. Maybe more classes will follow in the footsteps of EN/W 350.

Becoming a Computer Geek

I fully admit that I am not as computer savvy as most individuals, but I feel as though I am slowly but surely becoming a computer geek. I have only recently just figured out what exactly a blog looks like. I started this current blog totally clueless as to what a proper blog is to entail. I barley knew how to register at Blogger in the beginning.

But now after a month or two of writing and about eight postings under my belt, I feel like a pro. I am not only recommending blogging to everyone I meet, but I also feel I am advancing in the quality of blogs I am posting. Not only have I learned how to incorporate links into my postings of sites I think people who be interested in reading, such as my favorite website, but I also learned how to add images to my postings. It only took twenty minutes to figure out. (I'm good, right?)

I have to admit that my first few postings were quite amusing to witness. I was writing a post and did not realize that I was writing in the "edit Html" box instead of the "Compose" box. So every time I tried to post a picture or write in bold it would be written out in hypertext. I was confused as to why this kept happening and it only took me a week to fix the problem.

Maybe by the end of this semester I will be able to add an audio or video clip with a purpose to a posting? Stay tuned to find out if I can keep up my computer geek status.

Blogging for Dummies

It seems as though everywhere you turn people are talking about blogs. It’s on the news, it’s in the media, and there was even an article in the Fairfield University student news paper, The Fairfield Mirror. But there are just as many people out there who do not have the slightest clue of what a blog is.

Case in point, I was out to dinner last night with my family and I mentioned my new blog to them. Only one person at a table of five knew what I was talking about. So people may have heard of the term “blog,” but they still don’t know what it means exactly. I definitely spent at least twenty minutes trying to explain to my mother what it is. Personally I still don’t think she has a clue.

But I do have a solution. Everyone who has ever showed any confusion on what a blog is and where is came from should pick up the book “Who Let the Blogs Out” by Biz Stone. I have just finished reading this book and I thought it was the perfect book for blogging beginners. It almost seems as though it should be part of the for Dummies series.

I really feel I learned so much about the history of blogging from this book. This book gives the background of how blogging got started, and even gives the Webster's definition of the term blog.

I 100% recommend this book for anyone who is looking to get swept up in the blogging crazy. I even recommend it to those who already are. It is well written and easy to read. I guarantee that if you pick up Stone's "Who Let the Blogs Out" you wouldn't want to put it down.

Neuromancing its way into my Heart

I was confused when I found out we were going to be reading a literature book for our writing class. It is not a very common practice in most writing classes. I was also astonished when I learned that the book we were expected to read was William Gibson’s Neuromancer. From what I knew about the sci-fi novel was it was written in the 80s and Gibson was the first writer to coin the term cyberspace.

I admit that I had to read this book twice before I truly got a grasp on what Gibson was saying. I do think that we as readers of the new millennium are fortunate enough to be more comfortable with the terminology used in this book, as opposed to the readers back in the 80s. Words like matrix, cyberspace, microsoft, and artificial intelligence are commonplace in today’s vernacular. I believe that it would have been even harder to read this novel if I wasn’t familiar with these terms.

We are a generation raised on the Matrix trilogy. I recall in one of our class discussions, the protagonist character Case being compared to Neo from the Matrix. But we were informed that Neo is Case’s contemporary.

This book seemed to have all the elements to have it be made into a modern day cyberpunk movie. Gibson was a writer who was ahead of his time on his description of the internet.

I have to admit that after a few read-throughs, I began really getting into the storyline and what was happening to the characters. All in all I am really happy I was introduced to reading this book in my writing class.