Blogs

• What do you know about Blogs?

• Do any of you personally use any type of blogging site (Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.)?

• What are some of the potential positive and negative aspects of blogging sites?

Questions

• History

• Definition

• Examples of Blogs

• Why so popular?

• Benefits and Downsides

Outline

• In the 90’s Forum software came around and thus started running conversations online through “threads”. Threads are topical connections between users and messages on a type of “corkboard”.

• Before Blogs and “Blogging” became popular, there were many digital communities that served as a very raw form of blogs.

• Usenet, BiX, email lists and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) served as rudimentary blogging sites.

History

• Before the 21st century came about, blogging had rapidly grown in size and gained popularity.

• By 2001 blogs had soared to such popularity that how-to manuals were frequently being created and shared throughout these sites

• A revolutionary blogging site was created in 1998 called Open Diary and this site was unique due to its ability to allow “reader comments”. This was the first blogging site that allowed correspondence between writer and reader.

History Continued

• Blogging: the act of creating and maintaining a blog.

• Posting content on a blog or commenting on someone else’s blog.

• A web log or online journal

• Blogs are normally open, meaning that everyone can see them

• Entries in a blog usually come from a singular author

Blogs and Blogging

Examples of Blogs

• Popular for its user friendly interface and relatively easy use.

• Possesses an anti-spam comment feature

• Unfortunately this site requires a monthly fee to use its services.

TypePad

• An online “microblog” that allows users to submit posts up to 140 characters.

• These submissions are know as “Tweets” and can include pictures as well as other media.

• A feature that is popular on Twitter is that of the trending now page. Here users can see what topics have been discussed a lot and even use the # symbol to tag that topic or any topic in their posts.

Twitter

• Here’s a short video laying out the basics on how and what to tweet about.

How to Tweet

• A blogging platform that encourages all types of posts; text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to their tumblrlogs.

• Within this blogging site you have the option to make your page private (twitter has the same function). A lot of site do not possess this capability or they have added it throughout the many updates that occur with blogging sites.

Tumblr

Tumblr Basics

• Encourages interaction amongst people

• Easy to start and maintain

• Very up to date

• Gives an area to those who need to express themselves and gives another outlet for businesses to advertise on.

• The potential to learn new things from a blog is very high.

Why do People Blog?

• People can engage in conversations about various things ranging from recipes to politics. There really is no wrong topic on a blog site.

• Again blogs provide an area for individuals to express themselves and let out any emotions or thoughts they may have.

• Blogs can actually create good debate on topics and provide another way for information to be relayed through individuals.

Positive Aspects of Blogs

• Anyone can post anything on blogs and blogs are not normally regulated.

• The types of how-to manuals have turned into more dangerous and spiteful things as opposed to the originals that were coming out.

• Wrongful propaganda can be spread much easier through blogs due to the fact that no one could potentially ever meet face to face and its easy for people to fake credentials online.

Negative Aspects of Blogs

• "About me ." twitter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Sept. 2013. <www.twitter.com/about>.

• Beal, Vangie. "The History of Blogging - Webopedia.com." Webopedia: Online Computer Dictionary for Computer and Internet Terms and Definitions. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2013. <http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/history_of_blogging.asp>.

• Brain, Marshall. "HowStuffWorks "How Blogs Work"." HowStuffWorks "Computer". N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Sept. 2013. <http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/information/blog.htm>.

• "Joe Lambda's Home page [an example of RDF in XHTML]." World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2013. <http://www.w3.org/2003/12/rdf-in-xhtml-xslts/complete-example.html>.

• "Twitter | CrunchBase Profile." CrunchBase, The Free Tech Company Database. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013. <http://www.crunchbase.com/company/twitter>.

• "Why WordPress is the best choice for building your website -." How To Create A Website – No Skills Required. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2013. <http://www.make-a-web-site.com/why-wordpress-is-the-best-choice-for-building-your-website/>.

Works cited