Pinkie’s Realm

Bringing things back to the political aspect of blogging, I read 2 interviews in Kline and Burstein’s Blog! which, once more, discuss political side of internet communication. The first interview (”Sex, Lies, and Political Scrapes”) was an interview with Ana Marie Cox, the creator behind Wonkette, and the second interview (”Blogging the Presidency”) was with Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the creator of DailyKos. Both of these blogs are fairly controversial, but for different reasons. Even in the interviews they talk about what they are each influenced by. Cox emphasizes writing freely to express her sense of humor, and her passion for writing about sex scandals and whatever she finds funny in the government administration. Zuniga, on the other hand, works tirelessly to get people back into citizenship and has aided bloggers in accomplishing great things in politics. For instance, forcing the resignation fo Senator Trent Lott, after exposing the fraudulent documents at the heart of CBS 60 Minutes story on President Bush’s national guard career, and then even contributing ideas and slogans to both candidates’ campaign speeches, and mobilizing millions of party activists to raise money and get people to the polls. I think he is much more passionate for politics and the government itself and the wellbeing of our nation and it’s people. It’s hard to compare the two blogs because they’re both so different when it comes down to the heart of each blog. They’re both easy to look at and read, many links and pictures, and are both informative and interesting…however, if I was ever to consider using one of these blogs for purposes other than entertainment (like influencing my voting decision) I would without a doubt turn to Zuniga’s DailyKos. Not that I don’t enjoy Wonkette and would read it for fun, I would just trust Zuniga’s judgement since he cares so intensely about the war and the government’s (and the media’s) injustices.

Having read quite a bit of Kline and Burstein’s Blog! by now, I believe I’ve read about Microsoft’s chief humanizing officer Robert Scoble more than once. That being said, I was still surprised by how interesting I found his interview, “Blogs: Humanizing the Face of America”. I didn’t find him overly sarcastic or haughty like some of the interviews I’ve read thus far. He discussed what he believes makes a good blog. He states that you have to “humanize it”, write with honesty, and pay attention to what others are saying and asking in relation to either your company or products (that is, from a business perspective). He also mentioned two things that he any decent blog simply must have: it must be passionate, and authoritative…in the sense that you must demonstrate in your blog you are an authority on the thing you’re passionately blogging about. He then went on to talk about the main 5 things that make a blog hot: ease of publishing, discoverability, cross site conversing, permalinking, and syndication. Aside from those 7 things he mentioned in the interview, he has even set up a Corporate Weblog Manifesto consisting of 21 rules that aid the creation of a great blog. These 21 rules are mostly summarized in his interview, with particular emphasis on honesty and communication with those talking to you and about you. After reading Scoble’s interview I went on to read “The Blog Business: It’s More Like Music than Publishing”, an interview John Batelle. He’s very accomplished, like most of those interviewed in the book, but he just didn’t impress me as much as Scoble. Appropriately enough, Scoble just seems noble to me. Batelle’s interview focused more on not so much of what makes a succesful blog, but what the purposes of blogs should be, and how to advertise them. I just didn’t get the sense that he was interesting in blogging for the same reasons that Scoble is. Nontheless, I’m sure his blogs would fit some of Scoble’s noble criteria.

So after reviewing Scoble’s manifesto, I was curious if some of my favorite blogs were up to his standards. I browsed through TreeHugger and decided that it was certainly was could be called a great blog. It’s passionate, authoritative, helpful and informative, and certainly not as snarky and sarcastic as other blogs can be. The writers of TreeHugger always focus on matters of the earth and the environment and keep their readers up to date and involved.

After reading Joi Ito’s interview in Kline and Burstein’s Blog!, I realized he brought up many points throughout the discussion that I found very intriguing. For instance, one of his main points was that blogging enables the consumer to become the prducer. That is, people do not have to rely on restrictive and suppressive methods of obtaining information like that of the Big Media. Ultimately the Internet world of blogging has become a place where the average joe and any citizen can become a creator, a producer, a publisher. Afer all, there are no external affiliates and advertising agencies paying bloggers. In fact, bloggers often pay money themselves to set up their websites just how they want them to look. As a result there are no outward infleunces changing the way bloggers represent themselves and discuss the things they want to discuss–its an open converastion.

Even though I support and agree with mostly everything Joi Ito said (for example, how he believes the emergence of the non-mainstream is inevitable), I can’t help but disagree with his notion that folk music and art will be comin back. Though it may be true that it will be more and more costly for future generations of aspiring musicians and actors to become successful and famous, they are still going to take their losses (which will be due to new and free methods of dispensing CDs and DVDs), and end up poppung up as the next big thing all across the country…just as they always have.

*Bold text indicates transitions suggested by “They Say/I say”.

I’ve already read about the beneficial qualities that blogs have regarding business in Kline and Burstein’s Blog!, so the article “Blogs will Change your Business” by Stephen Baker and Heather Green (also featured in Blog!) didn’t come as a huge shock. I can’t exactly argue which is more important…the impact of blogging on business, or on communication. Clearly they were originally intended for communication and not just for profiting businesses. Therefore I can’t say I exactly think one is more important the other. For those in the business world, blogs are simply essential to successfully hear the voice of their customers and advertise their products…but isn’t that in a sense communication? Blogs are a way in which people transmit information to one another, no matter what form that may take. Baker and Green even admit in their essay, “they’re simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the internet itself.” They certainly have a good understanding of blogs, and those who use them. They also don’t seem to try to convince the readers that blogging is the only means of improving their company or that blogs are only good for business-relations. They simply bring up the now well-known and accepted point that blogging a must-have for every modern business.

 As I was browsing the posts of my favorite blogs, not nearly as many caught my attention as did those on TreeHugger. I like TreeHugger in general because it’s such a diverse website…discussing all that is environmentally friendly or organic in everything from cars to makeup. Being a huge advocate for animal rights, it’s not surprising that my favorite post was about animals. It’s entitled “Baby Hippo Adopted by 100 Year- Old Tortoise“, written by Michael Graham Richard. The post was a little humorous but in a completely  non-sarcastic way–mostly just the notion of a giagantic turtle mother adopting a baby hippo is slightly absurd. As usual for TreeHugger posts, the article remained professional yet not overly formal, and far from hostile (as other blogs can be notorious for). Apparently the hippo was separated from his family during the Kenyan tsunami. Since then, the hippo has attached itself to the wise old turtle who has been caring for the hippo…they eat, sleep, and swim together. The tortoise has even become aggresive towards those who approach, in protection of her new baby. The post includes several pictures, and I may be considered corny…but I thought they were the most adorable photographs I’ve ever seen. The tortoise is so large, it’s bigger than the hippo (granted, he is a baby). Anyway, it was the type of post that can cheer me up or soften my mood when I feel myself turning cold. As the post stated, the story was heart-warming and I know it brought a smile to my face.

The interview I read with Rebecca MacKinnon entitled “Making Global Voices Heard” in Kline and Burstein’s book Blog! was very professional, worldy, and political. As it turns out, Mackinnon originally worked for CNN and resigned after discovering how honest and fresh the blogosphere was. After that she created an international weblog aggregator called Global Voices. She wanted to reach people internationally, and in the interivew she spoke a lot about censorship in countries like North Korea and China. Since the interview was wit Rebecca mackinnon and since she is the creator of Global Voices, that was the blog I was most curious about. Surprisingly, she didn’t concentrate very much on Global Voices in the interview, so I had no expectation beforehand.

The layout of the website (found at www.globalvoicesonline.org) is very simple and clean, using cool calm colors like blue, green, and white. It’s certainly not as cluttered as other blogs–not much artwork, very few photos, and no video clips either that I could see. Many blogs are filled with random posts with photos, tagclouds, and sidebars are often filled with pictures and links to various websites, videos, and other blogs. I like the headling underneath the title of the site, however. Beneath “Global Voices” it says, “The World is Talking. Are you Listening?”.  I found the website mildly dry…of course, many will probably disagree and insist that it’s vastly innovative and breaking down boundaries, however that doesn’t mean it’s an interactive blog that I feel I could become actively involved with. The posts are regarding various countries across the Earth, but it just seems more like an online newspaper than a blog to me. The posts are very political, and discuss issues involving voting rights, laws, and cultural experiences, and the writing is very formal. Whereas Global Voices isn’t exactly my type of blog, I don’t mean to say that I’m not concerned with global affairs, or that it isn’t more suited to many other internet surfers around the world. However…though I hate to say it, I don’t think I’m alone in my opinions seeing as the majority of the posts had 0 comments. I do think it shows promise, but I think it needs work if it is to appeal to the diverse population of the world.

*Bold text indicates template used from Graff and Birkenstein’s “They Say/I Say”.

For most of you who read this blog, I’m sure you all know about the semester-long writing project. It’s supposed to focus on social computing and a marginalized group. I’ve had a bit of struggle on whether or not I wanted to focus on how blogging woke up America to the inconsistencies of what I call “The September 11th Story”. What I’d also like to consider focusing on is the world of multi-player online video games…of these games, I’d like to focus on the ones that are based on ‘real world economy’. This is a phenomonem that no longer involves just teenagers, and is also one most people are very unaware of….making money by selling virtual furniture and outfits you can create yourself, or investing in virtual stocks, and even selling virtual real estate. Both fascinating subjects, but for now I’ve decided to focus on 9/11.

Right now, my rough copy of the introductory paragraph for my essay is below:

I found the two interviews I’ve read in Kline & Burstein’s Blog! much more engaging and interesting than I thought they would be. The two I’ve read is “A weblog saved my life last night” (interview with Ayelet Waldman) and “Punching holes in Faded Mirrors” (interview with Arianna Huffington). I found them so vastly different that I wanted to respond briefly to both of them.

In Ayelet Waldman’s interview she discusses how she used to be a daily blogger with a wide audience, and then describes why she has come to shun it. As a published author, blogging was a great outlet for her creative thoughts. In the interview she then talks about how her new medicine for her Bi-polar disorder reacted dangerously, causing her to have suicidal thoughts. As the interview’s title claims, her blog saved her life because she left a post expressing her desperation and thoughts of killing herself. After that her husband rushed home and her friends aross the globe reached out to her. I just find it contradictory that she claims the blogging saved her life, then goes on to say that she believes it wasn’t good for her life, career, or herself as  person. Though I agree that blogging can create further issues, I can’t accept her conclusion for the reasons that she states. I know bloggers in particular can be “snarky”, as she puts it, and fiercely honest to the point of extreme personal offense, so for that reason I’m going to try to be very honest without being disrespectful or rude.

Waldman mentions 2 psychological disorders she has, and demonstrates this statement further by mentioned the multiple medications she takes in her blog (as well as many other extremely personal life details). I’ve grown up my whole life with about 7-8 doctors for the many phsycial conditions and psychological disorders I have had. I’ve never, ever, felt the urge to tell everyone about it, or anyone for that matter. I tell those that I feel need to know based on the situation. I complain of course, like every other human…but I wouldn’t say I’m whiney. To be honest, I just found her immature and whiney. She’s a grown woman and she spends hours a day writing about her children, sex life, and screwed up emotions…that just really says high school to me. She mentions how she loved blogging because she found people like her who support each other and talk about their feelings of lonliness and depression as mothers. No wonder she was depressed…instead of forcing herself to be positive and look for things on the internet that are stimulating and exciting, or funny, or happy, she was looking for more places to feel sorry for herself. So then she goes on to shun blogging, as if it’s the blogosphere’s fault. I’ve been through a lot, and I don’t share personal matters with the world. I simply can’t understand her reasoning behind why she has written and done the things she’s done.

Arianna Huffington, on the other hand, has a whole different attitude towards the internet and blogging. I respect her already because she is extremely worldy and wise. She’s accomplished so many things to be proud of and traveled the world, and has created wonderful things that maybe Waldman should consider reading and engaging in. Arianna thinks the world of blogging is full of oppertunity and truth. She has created a blog where multiple people of ages from 11-80 and from every time zone write collectively to form a “blogazine”. I find that fascinating, and I found her interview intriguing. Maybe now I’ll take my own advise and go search for some blogs which are stimulating, fun, and happy, and spend a short while appreciating the things that Arianna’s “Huffington Post” has to offer.

*Bold text: text based on template suggestions from Graff & Birkenstein’s They Say/I Say.

 Upon reading Emily Nussbaum’s essay, “My So-Called Blog”, I have to say I was filled with mixed emotions. I found that her essay was much more interesting and involving, considering the amount of interactive research she did involving the online worlds of young teens. It was especially refreshing to read after reading the majority of rest of the book which mostly concentrated on politics, business, media and culture aspect of blogging. However, I found her essay was much more relevevant to pre-teens, young teens, and online journals, than the actual blogging world. This being said, I do think it’s important ot remember that there is a younger population using online journals and web logs out there that are indeed less concerned with politics and culture, and more concerned with communication and entertainment. 

Though I respect her motives and opinions and her various conclusions about the young American population, I find much of what she says to be stereotypical and biased. Humans in general, let alone teenagers, can simply not be generalized. There is a period of maybe 2-3 years in which teenagers are mildly obsessed with instant messsaging and online diaries (notice I didn’t say blogs). These online diaries are where people generally record what they do day to day, and are far more personal than blogs. Blogs are more informational, political, and often are used as means of recording interesting and helpful accounts of experiences and research. These diaries are where kids friend request each other, communicate kindly and sometimes harshly with each other, where kids can check off their mood for their day, and receive eProps for popular posts. These are things you don’t find among highly respected blogs across the internet. I think being a young adult as I am, and having grown up in the ‘digital revolution’ as many call it, I have more of a hold on how teenagers work. Not all teenagers use these diaries and pour their highly personal lives out onto it. I myself have a blog in which I offer information on the various products I’ve tested and researched involving video games and cosmetics…diverse, interesting, informational, helpful…that is a Blog, and not the diaries that Nussbaum speaks of. She addresses this digital revolution when she says, “There were no cellphones, no answering machines; there was no “texting,” no MP3’s, no JPEGs, no digital cameras or fie-sharing software’ ther eas no World WIde WEb–none of that private-ish, public-ish, superimmediate forums kids today take for granted,” (Page 351 of Kline and Burstein’s Blog!). That again shows how she misunderstands the generation. I’d like to include myself in this large group she seems to be stereotyping, and I’d like to include that I certianly don’t take it for granted.

In fact I find it fascinating how far we’ve come and feel very priviledged to have grown up in this era. We are very aware of our abilities to understand technology and how electronically involved our worlds are. As I mentioned before, there is a period of only a few years in which teenagers are heavily involved with online diaries. As children get older and they outgrow the tedious, and often troublesome online diaries and migrate towards more respectable blogs and social networking sites. At one point Nussbaum mentions that this habit of recording our lives online is as if “…a generation were given a massive technological truth serum,” (351). Once again, she is generalizing a group that simply shouldn’t be so typecast in that way.

Again I’d like to mention that I enjoy her style of writing and respect her efforts, but I think she is a bit midguided and misunderstands the youth of today. She even attempts to grasp the world of cliques within young teenagers: “The emo kids tend to be the artsy  loners and punks…” (357). Not every area or every high schoole experiences such cliques, and many work to break away from cliques and categorization like myself. I’ve never ‘belonged’ to any one group and have never felt the need to, like the kids she discusses in her essay. Perhaps the children she researched and interviewed did indeed have that desperate need to belong and be included, but many people simply do not fit that criteria.

Furthermore, I’d just like to emphasize that she is confusing the blogosphere with young high-schoolers who write about their lives and fight with each other on internet diaries. At one point I believe she says that “blogging is a replication of real life,” (358). Blogging often discusses current events and research, and information…not records of personal events within their lives. I’m not trying to generalize the blogging community of course, but if you were to go to jezebel.com, or look at the political party blogs, or feminist blogs, you’ll have more of a grasp on what blogging is and how it differentiates from the online journals of today’s youth.

I may not have fully addressed the issue at hand, which is whether or not parents should monitor their teens’ journals. The answer is no, they should not. In our world today it is a healthy phase that we all go through, and it is part of growing up and adapting to the world. If a child is writing about how much they hate their parents, and sex, and cutting…than that is the parents’ fault in more ways than one. If their posts are serious enough, I’ve found other kids and readers take it upon themselves to warn their parents. For that reason I don’t think anyone should invade anyone elses privacy–if you know your child does not want you reading their online journal they share with their peers, than don’t read it. It’s not worth jeapordizing your relationship with your child, or their trust.

Interest Statement for Semester-Long Writing Assignment

There are many different areas of social computing that interest me, especially the ones that play a role in my life. This includes aggregators (like iTunes), e-mail (Yahoo), instant messaging of course (AIM), social networking services (like Facebook and MySpace), wikis (WikiPedia), blogging (obviously), and virtual worlds/massive multi-player online games. Of these options I’ve tried to narrow down which one I’m going to concentrate on. Considering I want to be a video game animator someday I thought it may be a good idea to work on a paper regarding the online multi-player games Project Entropia and Second Life. I chose these not because my favorite games, but because they way these particular games is fascinting. They are based on a real world economy, meaning you download the games for free, and can make virtually thousands of dollars by selling virtual real estate, designing and selling clothes, and of course spending money on land or houses or nice furniture. One woman I read about in Germany I believe makes about $100,000 a year from playing these games alone…she doesn’t even work, she just plays. I’m also considering writing about blogging because it has been known to cause great change and awareness. Blogging and online communication is how most people were heard after 9/11 when the governmetn and the media wouldn’t listen to their accounts. So many people support the theory that something simply wasn’t right about that day, and now several documentaries have finally been made and are available as well on various aggregators across the internet.

It’s hard to choose only 3 marginalized groups to focus on for this project, because there are so many that concern me already…discrimation against gender, race, sexual preference, religion, and age. I think that race and social status is definately one I could research and look into if I decide to go with an essay about the 9/11 conspiracies and theories. If I choose to go with a paper about online worlds, there’s plenty I could research about how video gaming really affects teens, and stereotypes about those who play (and profit) from such games.

Since I’ve barely ever traveled in my life (sadly…), I just don’t know much about the rest of the world. Trust me, I’ve tried but I’m too poor at the moment, and have only been to a few various locations within the US. I watch the Discovery channel, and the Travel channel, and many documentaries, and have many friends from different countries who even speak different langauges. What I’m saying is, I don’t think I am uncultured…I just don’t think I’m worldy enought to truly empathize with what other people are going through in other parts of the world, so for my writing assigment I think I’d like to focus on Amerca. I may also write about other parts of the world, but I’m thinking I’m going to focus on the major industrialized countries if I write about technology such as online video games.