secret’s blog

“Web of Influence” by Daniel W. Drezner and Henry Farrell discusses the importance between international blogs and media coverage.  The paragraph that I would like to discuss is on page 84 beginning with… Blogs (short for “weblogs”).  In this paragraph the authors talk about the basics of blogs, for example the definition of what a blog is and then they begin to talk about the increasing amount of blogs each year.   For example, “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 (Kline and Burstein 84).  What this really means is that more and more people are using blogs as a way of expression.  Another important piece that was mentioned in the paragraph was that media institutions are also taking up the use of blogs.  In short, more people each day are utilizing blogs.

After reading the two texts I found Zuniga’s to be much more persuasive.  I felt that I could not take Cox’s article as seriously as I did Zuniga’s.  Zuniga spoke about things that seemed more important such as many things that have occurred in Iraq.  Although Wonkette.com did have blogs that dealt with many things about the elections they all seemed to be jokes, most were making fun of the presidential candidates.  On Dailykos.com there were articles as well as results from polls comparing Obama and Clinton’s performance.   I think that if someone who did not know much information about the upcoming election could read Zuniga’s blog and be able to understand much more information about it.  Zuniga seems to know what he is talking about and comes off as being very intelligent.

When I checked up on the Jezebel website the top story caught my eye.  It talked about an episode of Intervention which airs on A&E.  I happen to watch this show so I wanted to read what the episode was about.  Jezebel gave a brief description a woman with a large problem.  Not only was she a meth addict but she was also a stripper.  The article says that it was more shocking and upsetting to her parents to find out that she was a stripper, none the less a drug addict.  When I read Scobles Corporate Weblog Manifesto I felt that Jezebel fit with many of the rules.  Since I have been reading up on Jezebel the website has not once changed their URL, which according to Scoble is a good thing.  Also the blogs are very truthful, they tell the stories exactly like they are.  In fact they sometimes seem more real then what the media tells us.  The second rule in Scobles Manifesto says that you should “Post fast on good news or bad.”  This is exactly what the website does.   Although, the blog may not follow rule number 14 because the website does share articles about people/ celebrities that are going through hard times.  I feel that the principles of the Corporate Weblog Manifesto are applicable to the blog in question.

In an interview from Kline and Burstein’s, “Making Global Voices Heard” Rebecca MaKinnon spoke about many different blogs.  I chose to read The Kenyan Pundit (http://kenyanpundit.com/).  I chose this blog because I was familiar with the war that is occurring in Kenya and thought that perhaps the blog would talk about it. The blog that was written today discussed the problems in the country and how they may affect local towns.  I felt that the blogs were written as though Ory Okolloh where having a conversation with me.  The writing came off as being very personal.  On the homepage there is a picture of cars with what seems to be people standing around them.  When you click on Photos you are taken to a different site and are able to view many different photos of Kenyan culture.  I think that the blog as it now exists still corresponds to MacKinnon’s views on it.  From the blog I read it spoke about problems that are occurring in the country and in MacKinnon’s interview she said that “According to Ory the Kenyan blog world is growing very, very fast.  Plus, she has found that by being involved and by linking to other Kenyan bloggers, she is a sold part of the Kenyan political scene,” (Kline and Burstein 330). 

After reading “Blogs Will Change Your Business” by Stephen Baker and Heather Green, I came to the conclusion that the impact of blogging on businesses is more powerful than the impact of blogging on communication.  Blogs that deal with business could help get work accomplished in a very well-organized manner.  Baker and Green said that blogs are “the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the internet itself.  And they’re going to shake up just about every business-including yours,” (Kline and Burstein 222).  I feel that blogging in a new business is a great way to market a new product.  Customers or interested buyers will be able to discuss and also see what others think about the products.  Blogs would also enable the company to let buyers know about recalls, new versions of products, answer questions and most importantly customers could let companies know directly how they feel about their products. 

While reading Arianna Huffington’s interview “Punching Holes in Faded Mirrors” I came across a quote that interested me, “But with blogs an enormous amount of people have become their own reporters.  They are driven not by the assignment desk but by passion.  When they decide that something matters they chomp down hard and refuse to let go” (Kline and Burstein, 344).  I agree that people who blog write down and talk about what they enjoy, opposite of most reporters who seem to talk about things just because they are forced to and my experience as a student going through school I know that unless you take pleasure in what you are writing about there will not a great amount of effort put forth.  There is not much that I find myself disagreeing with but one section says that “The media is suffering from attention deficit disorder.  They can only focus on one story at a time.”(Kline and Burstein, 345).  I agree with Huffington up to a certain point.  Yes the media does focus on one main story sometimes, but most of the time there a many other issues being presented, such as news about the war and also many different things that are occurring in Hollywood.  Although it may seem that they are constantly centering their attention on Britany Spears, there are many other issues that are being shown. 

I believe that parents of middle school students should not monitor everything their children are writing online.  I feel that by this age they are old enough to make good enough decisions.  I am not saying that is it a bad thing for parents to occasionally check up on what they’re children are doing, but invading their space or looking over their shoulder can get annoying.  Not only can it get annoying but I feel that it shows a lack of trust from the parents to their children.  While growing up my parents were never nosey enough to look over my shoulders and I never did anything online that I was not suppose to do.  I think the most important thing to do is before you let your child use the computer for the first time sit them down and have a talk with them.  Make sure they know of the bad things that can happen from using the internet inappropriately and especially by giving out private information.  When I was younger I really enjoyed using the internet, it enabled me to research things that I never knew about, talk to my friends, and play games.  In Nussbaum’s article “My So-Called Blog,” she talks about how everyone should just enjoy the internet and what it offers.  “For many in the generation that has grown up online, the solution is not to fight this technological loss of privacy, but to give in and embrace it: to stop worrying and learn to love the Web,” (Nussbaum, 351).  I think that parents should know what their children are doing online but not in a sense of invading their space.  If a child began to spend too much time on the internet using Instant Messaging or you see or sense that they are doing things they are not suppose to do then that is the right time to say something to them. 

“Blogs help break through the anonymity and isolation of modern life.  They give people a voice and a forum with which to speak truth to power or at least to reach out and touch someone.  And although blogs certainly won’t give rise to a million new citizen-Shakespeare’s, they do enable talented but heretofore unacknowledged people with something to say it find an audience- and thereby pluck from the indifference of daily life a bit of validation for themselves, their ideas, and their creative abilities,” (P.247-248).  After reading this paragraph in “I Blog, Therefore I Am,” by David Kline I questioned whether I agreed with all of the things Kline had to say.  During my lifetime I have always noticed that people liked to get their opinions out there.  In my opinion this piece of the article strongly relates to the title… because I blog, therefore I am, therefore I can say what I feel.  Although I do not deny what Kline is saying I just wonder how many bloggers feel this as well.  In my opinion I question how long blogging will continue, how much longer will people be able to speak their minds online?  While reading this article there was nothing that I felt myself totally disagreeing with that is why I chose to speak about the paragraph above.    

“Blogs help break through the anonymity and isolation of modern life.  They give people a voice and a forum with which to speak truth to power or at least to reach out and touch someone.  And although blogs certainly won’t give rise to a million new citizen-Shakespeare’s, they do enable talented but heretofore unacknowledged people with something to say it find an audience- and thereby pluck from the indifference of daily life a bit of validation for themselves, their ideas, and their creative abilities,” (P.247-248).  After reading this paragraph in “I Blog, Therefore I Am,” by David Kline I questioned whether I agreed with all of the things Kline had to say.  During my lifetime I have always noticed that people liked to get their opinions out there.  In my opinion this piece of the article strongly relates to the title… because I blog, therefore I am, therefore I can say what I feel.  Although I do not deny what Kline is saying I just wonder how many bloggers feel this as well.  In my opinion I question how long blogging will continue, how much longer will people be able to speak their minds online?  While reading this article there was nothing that I felt myself totally disagreeing with that is why I chose to speak about the paragraph above.    

This is my first post on Keeneweb blog