Tuesday, September 25, 2007

HW11: Oh My News!

The blog I chose was OhMyNews (english.ohmynews.com). OhMyNews is a site where ordinary citizens can write articles as if they were journalists in the press. Therefore, the bloggers who blog on OhMyNews are just regular folks around the world. They tackle worldly as well as national issues through open journalism which is reviewed by a team of professional editors. The blog was very helpful and it got the word of the public out in a very professional manner, which is exactly what Rebecca MacKinnon says about the blog on page 331 of Kline and Burstein's Blog! Of course, many will probably disagree with this assertion that OhMyNews helped a presidential leader gain power in South Korea with help from the public, who blogged on the site and swayed enough voters for the unpopular candidate to assure his victory.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

HW 9: Waldman

I agree that some bloggers spend too much of their time and energy to keep up their blogs because my experience online and with my friend confirms it. I've noticed that some of the more dedicated bloggers can spend an upwards of around 3 to 5 hours online per day. For example: my friend back home likes to keep up on her blog and journal and would consistently revisit her site throughout the day. Once before school, once or twice during school, she'd check it instantly after coming home, twice more before dinnertime, and again twice more before going to bed. This experience with my friend from back home has helped me understand the addictive nature behind blogging and other social communicating devices online.

HW 7: "My So-Called Blog"

I think that kids should have the right to their privacy from their parents and should also be able to write freely online. Obviously, communication between parents and children is pivotal for security and a positive relationship. I don't think that parents should be badgering their kids and sneaking behind them to uncover personal information, even if it results in a more secure and protected future.

Emily Nussbaum, in her article, "My So-Called Blog," describes some of the positives that blogging and other online communication sites can provide for kids. She talks about a young boy named "J." Nussbaum states:

Online, he could blurt out confessions of loneliness and insecurity, worrying aloud about slights from friends. Yet despite the fact that he knew that anyone who wanted to could read his journal--and that a few friends did, leaving comments at the end of posts--he also maintained the notion that what he was doing was private. He didn't write for an audience, he said; he just wrote what he was feeling.
(Kline and Burstein 352-353)

I think that this boy, J., truly shows how blogging can comfort its users. The confidentiality that he shows in his blogging truly shows that he trusts the blog site and trusts that people could never criticize him for what he writes within the blog.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Ideas For Semester Project

The social computing technologies I'm interested in are blogs, social networking services, and wikis. I think I need to know more about blogs and wikis especially, because these are the two that I have the least interaction with out of my top 3. I wanted to look into social networking because I wanted to focus on how social networking can help a presidential candidate who only has 3% of the GOP vote. The Republican Senator from Texas, Dr. Ron Paul has used Facebook and MySpace to promote his campaign and to win over the cyberworld vote, which may prove to be quite a boost in this upcoming election. Dr. Paul has over 60,000 friends on MySpace and has also spread the message to Facebook, serving as the admin to his own Facebook group. In addition, I'm very interested in what is going on in our government and with anything that has to do with issues of citizenship, rights, and empowerment of undocumented residents. But, with this piece, I think I'm going to stick with how the social networking sites have helped Senator Paul and how it will unfold for the future.

HW 5b: "I Blog, Therefore I Am"

On page 238 of David Kline’s “I Blog, Therefore I Am” (Kline and Burstein 237-252), the author suggests that blogging will “engender massive change in our society, most especially in the role and power of the mainstream media.” From this quote, it’s easy to see that Kline thinks very highly of blogging and the future of blogging in this world. However, I disagree with this statement and especially with the idea of blogging becoming competition for mass media. To agree, blogging is a community that works in it’s own world in a very efficient manner. But it is a much different world in the mainstream media. The mainstream media is an empire surrounded by money and politics. Now, I should probably tell you I’m studying journalism to hopefully major in it after my education here. I love to write and I love to read good writing and honestly, only the best blogs get printed to be read across a mainstream medium. I have read a lot of good and professional blogs, but it is never the same as a more professional or traditional method of communication. I can acknowledge the author’s standpoint, but I can not support it.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

HW3: My Whole Life I Have Heard It Said...

After reading "Toward a More Participatory Democracy" (David Kline) he discusses how blogs effect our society and political views. My whole life I have heard it said that politicians would only be campaigning on TV and radio, but now with the internet's breakthrough in communication it seems that politicians have a new force to attack dry campaign fundraisers, find new members, and increase the number of supporters with a more readily available communication style. A fact that I found interesting was that prior to the 2004 election, blogging sites were getting more hits than some of the most popular news sites! This stat just goes to show how blogging is becoming so popular and excitingly more influential. WIth politicians now using blogs more to convey their standpoints you ultimately have a new medium from which to campaign. I think it is a better way to communicate ideas and religious views in a continual time-frame. In conclusion, blogging has become and will continue to become a prominent aspect of future politics.

HW2: International Blogging Beats "Foreign Relations"

After reading "From Cave Painting to Wonkette" (Kline and Burstein xxi-xxvi), I chose his sixth idea which basically states that blogging as we all know it is and will be becoming increasingly global. Personally, I can connect to this statement because I do a lot of blogging that can be seen all over the world and is important just for that reason. Without global communication, we'd be nothing. I also think, on the other hand, that international blogging can be very difficult to accomplish with hundreds of thousands of different culture barriers all over the world. What is completely okay for a citizen of the United States to do may not be as alright for a different user in a more strict area of the world. For example: China. However, being able to express your opinion freely along the infinite lines of the global net is not only important, it's vital for Earth's future success and well being. Maybe it'd be doing a better job negotiating with the world than we are...