Kline and Burstein's book "Blog!" definitely got two points right about blogging: it is global and it is metaphor of interactivity.
Blogging has become global. My brother is Italian and he is 18 years old. Through blogging he thought his opinion on the book would get around. The book was a fascinating tale with a very weak ending, and my brother wanted to let possible readers know that it was not worth buying this book, that it was disappointing.
No matter what part of the world you live in, you can blog, you can express your opinion, you can tell people what you know, what you have found out, what you care about. The best part about blogging is that you quickly find out that other millions of people have an opinion about the exact same subject, or simply about a blog post you wrote.
I used to think people who spent their day on the computer - such as my brother - were not social people and were sitting in front of a machine plugged into the wall. By reading and discovering more about blogging I have discovered a whole world I was not familiar with. Not only can you share knowledge and opinions with people who live in the same city you live in, but also with people who are on the opposite side of the world. Even though I have to stick to my opinion that spending too much time on the computer makes him a bit anti social, I must admit blogging allows him to voice his opinions to people he would otherwise never be able to talk to. His post can influence people he doesn’t' even know. It is therefore both global and metaphor of inactivity.
In the introduction to the book, Kline and Burstein say bloggin has always existed and use as an example DaVinci's diaries, as well as several other diaries.
I have to disagree with them. When I think of blogging I think of a personal opinion on a certain matter and not an expert's view on a subject.
Even though it is true that lots of experts blog on their subject of expertise, how do you know which bloggers to trust? How do you know that the person who posted his comment is an expert about whatever it is he's posting about? Online, you can change your identity, you can pretend you are a different person from the one you actually are. Even though someone identifies him/herself as an expert, you are the one who has to choose whether to believe them or not.
Comparing a genius’s journal to a blogger is a bit of an insult to DaVinci, I believe.
I agree with Kline and Burstein's that diaries are the ancestors of blogs, however, blogs have developed in something different today.
I agree with Kline and Burstein's that diaries are the ancestors of blogs, however, blogs have developed in something different today.
Just as Kline and Burstain said, blogs restore “the lost voice of the ordinary citizen in our culture.”
3 comments:
Very well written. However, I struggle to see the difference between an expert's view and personal opinion being qualification for a blog. Clearly DaVinci was a genius, but do you think his diary was documented fact? Somewhere in California, there are big shot studio executives who green-lighted "Meet the Spartans". I follow the movie industry very closely and I feel like my opinion is just as valuable as those producers. Just because someone gets paid to do a job, doesn't necessarily make them an expert. The beauty of blogs is that anyone can have them, and like you say the validity of the author should come from his material. The audience must decide who the "experts" are. I liked how you talked about your brother. While people across the world have access to his blog, it's doubtful that he's getting traffic from thousands of readers everyday. It makes me wonder how some blogs become widely successful. Is it exclusive content? Becoming a source of breaking news? Possibly, drawing your audience from a sister source? It would be interesting to examine how blogs rise from one like your brothers to an internet mainstream level. I know I went off on a couple tangents, but your blog made me think, which is exactly what you should strive for! Great job!
I think you're blog is well done and at the start you are correct. Blogging is global and interactive. I also agree with you that it may tend to be a bit anti-social because it does keep you secluded to your computer. But also, who says we sit around all day on our computers blogging? Does your brother? I disagree with you though when you say blogging has not always existed. While the prior forms are not what blogging is today they are still a form of blogging. Also, I disagree when you say a blog is also not an expert's view on a subject. I will first admit that not all bloggers are experts, in fact most are just people trying to get their opinions out. But some experts on subjects I'm sure blog. You just have to look for them. But you're blog raised all these questions to me along with my disagreement so therefore I think it was a great blog. Very stimulating.
Very well written.
I do believe that if DaVinci were alive today, he would be blogging, and would probably flame your comment boards. :-)
But, in fairness, we will be looking at many different types of blogs as the semester goes on and I hope by the end you'll be able to judge which ones are worth following and which are junk.
Watch the typos. Spell-check is your friend.
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