Notes on Blogging

Before this class, I've heard of blogs, but never experienced them myself. With the requirements of this class revolving so often around blogging, the Web 2.0 medium I have chosen, I have become quite comfortable with them. I’ve looked through several different types of blogs. The one that I see and use most often is that blog for our class postings. When I started this class, I was very weary of all my personal work being placed on a blog, for all to see. Now that I’ve gotten used to blogging and seen firsthand its implications, I feel that I shouldn’t have worried at all. I look at my blog now as a place to display my work, and its work that I’ve put a great deal of effort to, so why not share?

I’ve also seen some blogs that are for entertainment purposes. People turn to them to get their latest celebrity gossip. It’s kind of as if the advances in our technology have helped the blog to evolve and take the place of tabloid magazines. This is also the case with newspapers. Very often people are turning to blogs to get their world news.

Some people use blogs as a diary or journal. I find this to be very interesting. Very often, what one puts in their diary or journal are their private thoughts. With that being said, the idea of blogging those thoughts opens a whole new world of possibilities. What was once private is out there for all to see. Some choose to make their blogs completely private, for their own personal use, but that is odd to me. Why not just put it in your own journal, why blog then? Some people also blog to share their news and or thoughts with others. I observed some blogs in search through the blogosphere where people just blog their thoughts and emotions. It’s kind of an attention seeking device. I found this horrifyingly disturbing blog where this girl was openly anorexic and bulimic. She talked about how she went about being that way, and how disgusted she was with herself for eating a carrot. The saddest thing about it was the people that were offering tips on how to have an eating disorder, asking her for advice, and encouraging her to continue with it. Not one comment on how to get better, or live a healthier life.

I think that the most practical use of blogging would be to update people on your life. The birth of a child, a promotion at work, or an engagement are all examples of the type of news one might post to their personal blog. I feel that you cannot always trust what you read from a blog, because in a way, they are personal opinions. So that is why I enjoy the personal blog that is intended to connect people with one another.