The Beginnings of this Blog …
STAGE 1 – WHAT IS A WEBLOG
TASK 1.1
Readings:
(i) Rebecca Blood “Weblogs – A History and Perspective” 7 September 2000
http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
(ii) Dave Winer “What makes a Weblog a Weblog?” 23 May 2003
http://www.ladlass.com/ice/archives/007570.html
(iii) Sebastien Paquet “Personal Knowledge Publishing and its uses in Research” 1 October 2002
http://radio.weblogs.com/0110772/stories/2002/10/03/personalKnowledgePublishingAndItsUsesInResearch.html
All readings were quite informative and although providing very similar details each were quite different in the way they presented their ideas, which is expected as these are the individuals’ own blogs. Blood was much more informal in her approach to explaining the history of weblogs and provided a wealth of insight into weblogs, particularly why they are an important medium to counter the media saturated society we live in. Winer on the other hand was more specific about the technical aspects of weblogs. Paquet was perhaps the most informative and to me is perhaps was the best reading to use as an educational resource in introducing students to weblogs. This is due to the fact that his work was structured in clearly defined sections and was very straightforward (not as much personal reflection). Overall, each author contributed to my understanding of weblogs.
EXPLORE: Use your search skills to find other definitions for weblogs. Make a note of the URLs
WEBLOGS (BLOGS):
““Blog” is short for “Web Log” and refers to short messages that are posted onto a web site by an author. Blogs are typically informal and personal messages, almost like daily diary entries. Blogging has caught on as a cheap form of knowledge sharing and expert communication. See www.blogger.com for more information.
http://www.e-learningguru.com/gloss.htm
“An extension of the personal Website consisting of regular journal-like entries posted on a Webpage for public viewing. Blogs usually contain links to other Websites along with the thoughts, comments, and personality of the blog’s creator.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/glossary
“A blog is your easy-to-use web site, where you can quickly post thoughts, interact with people, and more.
“A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) or sexual topics (Adult blog), and are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.
In May 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 71 million blogs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblog
TASK: Write your own definition – based on your understanding from the above readings – remember to note your reference sources, particularly the URLs.
A weblog (or the more commonly used term, blog), as described by Dave Winer is “the unedited voice of a person” (http://www.ladlass.com/ice/archives/007570.html) however I believe it is more the “uninhibited voice of a person”. Blogs are rich with commentary or news about particular subjects of interest to the author (blogger), with many acting as personal online journals.
As highlighted by Rebecca Blood blogs, which originally started off as commentaries on current news, contribute to the “dissemination and interpretation of the news that is fed to us everyday” (http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html) which in this day and age is so important if we want to reach a fair and balanced view of the issues that plague our world. Furthermore, the use of blogs as journals, provide people with an outlet to express who they are and share their life with others. As Blood also notes:
“The blogger, by virtue of simply writing down whatever is on his mind, will be confronted with his own thoughts and opinions… Ideally, he will become less reflexive and more reflective, and find his own opinions and ideas worthy of serious consideration… Reading the views of other ordinary people, they [readers] will readily question and evaluate what is being said. Doing this, they may begin a similar journey of self-discovery and intellectual self-reliance.”
She also believes that failing to create time and spaces in which we can reflect on the immense amount of data that is out there we will only be left with our reactions.
More specifically about what a blog is – Sebastian Paquet lists five defining characteristics of blogs:
1. Personal editorship
2. Hyperlinked post structure
3. Frequent updates, displayed in reverse chronological order
4. Free, public access to the content
5. Archival
(See http://radio.weblogs.com/0110772/stories/2002/10/03/personalKnowledgePublishingAndItsUsesInResearch.html for more information, Dave Winer’s article also delves into the technical aspects of blogs)
In my opinion blogs play a huge role in the way we communicate and will continue to do so for years to come. The fact that it is so easily accessible by such a large and diverse group of people means that communication will increase and expand across borders.
TASK 1.2: TYPES OF WEBLOGS
Rebecca Blood has outlined 3 forms:
1. Blogs – personal, short-form journals eg. cablog Chocolate & Zucchini
2. Notebooks – focused content, longer pieces of writing, opinions, short essays eg. Stephen’s Downes
3. Filters – editors gather links or snippets, like a newsletter – may still include opinion pieces. eg. elearning Post
Further examples of weblogs identified as exemplars in the blogosphere can be found on the Bloggies 2006 Awards page.
Weblogs in education – “edublogs” – have a look at some examples from the edublog awards for 2006!
TASK: What type of weblog will we be using? From your understanding of the definitions, and now the forms of weblogs, explain, in your own words, the type of weblog that we will be using in this subject.
In the subject we will be using blogs as personal, short form journals to document our progress and experiences. As part of the subject requires us to be critical of resources and keep a record of those we come across, our blogs will also act somewhat as a filter. Furthermore, our responses to questions raised in class will also be posted on the blog and hence it will also act as a notebook. Overall however, I believe that the emphasis will be on the blog as a journal as it is a tool that will help structure our independent learning.
TASK 1.3: FEATURES OF A WEBLOG
EXPLORE: Review some of the previous weblogs and observe how they have created the structure of their weblog.
In exploring a number of weblogs, the one most interesting that I have come across is PostSecret (http://postsecret.blogspot.com/). It is a visually rich blog as it consists of a number of postings that are actually self-created postcards sent in by anonymous people who want to share a secret. There are also comments made by other people which are emailed through and later posted. This is interesting in that the post is a visual media and is posted by numerous authors who do not physically publish these online themselves. This style of blog would be a relief to many who carry the burden of or are dying to share a secret and so is perhaps the ultimate form of uninhibited expression.
TASK: So how do you discriminate between a normal web page and a weblog?
There are some key features that you can use to quickly identify when you are looking at a weblog page.
What are they?
1. Dated entries or posts – with Titles Each entry or post is displayed in reverse chronological order (last post first). A title is not required, but it will help to keep posts organized.
2. Comments – after each post (or most posts) there is a link that allows you (as the reader) to enter some feedback to the author.
3. Categories – posts can be grouped into categories or topics and displayed together.
4. Links – The author/editor can develop lists of links – these can be of other weblogs the author/editor regularly reads, lists of useful URLs or references, lists of books, lists of favourite music downloads – just about anything of interest or use to the author & their readers.
5. Archives – most weblogs have an archive facility which allows the author/editor to store previous posts by date – usually archived monthly. Clicking on a particular month will display all the entries for that month.
STAGE 2 – SETTING UP A WEBLOG
- Task 2.1: Name your weblog
- Task 2.2: Make your first entry or post!
- Task 2.3: Edit or delete a post
- Task 2.4: Using categories to organise your posts
- Task 2.5: Create lists of URLs or Link Lists or Blogrolls
- Task 2.6: Add a link to one of your Blogroll
I set up my weblog on 21/08/07 and published my first blog on the 28/08/07. The setting up of the weblog was fairly easy. Straightforward, very user friendly. I was able to navigate around the site with ease and explored many of the options. I played around with the theme of the blog and later at home I used the RockYou site to create a photographic slideshow of my friends which I have included in the page titled “About this blogger’s friends…” Prior to this I also viewed a video found in the Support section of the site that explained the difference between a post and a page (pages are separate from posts and are not chronologically ordered. I find that they are most useful in keeping static information readily available).
STAGE 3 – DEVELOPING A FOCUS
TASK 3.1: REPRESENTING YOURSELF
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Readers: Who reads weblogs?
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Who am I? What are you writing about? |
| Consider your use of a weblog in this subject:who may be interested to read your comments and opinions? Your lecturer?Your colleagues – students within your subject? People interested in the subject / topics you write about?Experts in the topics you write about – interested in other people’s opinions?No-one would be interested | Consider the content of your weblog – is it:A personal diary – detailing your emotions and experiences? A journal of personal opinions about current political issues?A journal of your learning – including informed comments and opinions? A reference point for others interested in the same topic? |
| Consider these options – they will directly influence how you represent yourself. | Based on answers to these questions, you need to decide what to tell your readers about the author of the weblog.Why? Credibility, authenticity, reliability. |
TASK 3.2: NAMING YOUR WEBLOG
EXPLORE: Return to weblogs you have already discovered in the earlier stages. How do the names used represent an image to the readers of the author?
Chocolate & Zucchini (http://chocolateandzucchini.com/) – The name of this blog implies that it is about food. I would assume that the author’s favourite foods were chocolate and zucchini which is partly right (she describes her choice of title in the following excerpt – “I thought it was a good metaphor for my cooking style: the zucchini illustrates my focus on healthy and natural eating – fresh produce, artisanal products, a preference for organic or natural foods when possible and not outrageously priced. And the chocolate represents my decidedly marked taste for anything sweet in general, and chocolate, glorious chocolate in particular”).
Stephen’s Web (http://www.downes.ca/) – Obviously the author’s name is Stephen. I see these sorts of titles quite boring but it gives a sense of ownership to the author.
Elearning Post (http://www.elearningpost.com) – The name of the blog implies that it is about elearning. When I saw the word post i associated it with the idea of a post office and immediately assumed that it would consist of posts from a number of different people which is partially what the blog is. It filters information authored by others.
PostSecret (http://postsecret.blogspot.com/) – The name implies the posting of secrets. Immediately this would entice readers to continue reading because I beleive as humans we all have the tendency to want to know more. It is our curious nature.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
- What does the name of your weblog say? The Procrastinator’s Worst Enemy
- What message does it send? In a sense it describes who I am but it carries with it a humourous tone. I’m hoping to emphasise the humor in me more than the procrastinator I know I am when it comes to doing assessments.
- What message would you like to send or portray about yourself? I want to portray myself as someone who is embracing the challenge of being a regular blogger. I also want to engage readers of my blog.
TASK 3.3 – ABOUT ME PAGE
When thinking about how to represent myself I wanted to make sure that readers would know that the blog was used for educational purposes and so rather than have the about page about me, I made it about the blog and then created a separate page to introduce myself. In introducing myself I wanted to keep it brief and wrote with an informal tone that was true to my real self. The title I thought should humour readers that’s why I chose “the procrastinator’s worst enemy”, which is explained above as well in my “About this blogger…” page. I’m taking this subject seriously but at the same time lightly because this blog, which forms a core part of our learning, is an expression of who I am and who I am is someone who wishes she were lighter on the scales (I need to shed the winter weight)… LOL (Messaging jargon for “laugh out loud”)… but seriously I try to view things in life as optimistically as possible and love enjoying the minutes that pass.
STAGE 4 – START PUBLISHING
TASK 4.1: FINDING YOUR VOICE
Readings:
(i) Mark Bernstein “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web” 16 August 2002
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving/
(ii) Dennis A. Mahoney “How to Write a Better Weblog” 22 February 2002
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writebetter/
(iii) Rebecca Blood “Ten Tips for a Better Weblog” 22 March 2003
http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/ten_tips.html
WRITE: What is the difference between these articles? Find your position or opinion on these three articles.
Bernstein’s 10 tips were:
1. Write for a reason
2. Write often
3. Write tight
4. Make good friends
5. Find good enemies
6. Let the story unfold
7. Stand up, speak out
8. Be sexy
9. Use your archives
10. Relax
This article was interesting to read as it was light and informal. It provided some great tips however I think it’s going to be very hard to write because part of me will always be thinking of this blog as part of assessment and so my passion isn’t 100% in it. The fact that I have to do this, that it isn’t voluntary, will structure much of what I write. Bernstein also defined a living web as “the part of the web that is always changing”, which is pretty much what you expect from the web as it is the most updated resource possible. In reading the article my favourite quote from it sums up what a good weblog should be:
“Every revision requires new writing, new words that become the essence of the site… Living sites are only as good as today’s update. If the words are dull, nobody will read them, and nobody will come back. If the words are wrong, people will be misled, disappointed, infuriated. If the words aren’t there, people will shake their heads and lament your untimely demise.”
Mahoney offered 4 tips:
1. Learn the rules (grammar, spelling, punctuation, rhythm, focus, syntax and structure)
2. Offer something new
3. Amuse your readers
4. Go beyong Wired (don’t link content that is linked by ten other sites, try and be different)
Mahoney’s article differs to Bernstein’s slightly. I found both offering insightful tips on improving weblogs but with Mahoney, his tips encourage a much more expressive and unique weblog. Something that is centered on the creative person. His tips encourage the innovative spirit – to go out there and find things, to be different, to create things etc.
Blood also compiled a list of 10 tips:
1. Choose an updating tool that is easy to use
2. Determine your purpose
3. Know your intended audience
4. Be real
5. Write about what you love
6. Update frequently
7. Establish your credibility
8. Link to your sources
9. Link to other weblogs
10. Be patient
Bonus tip: Have fun! Whether your weblog is a hobby or a professional tool, it will be more rewarding for you if you allow yourself to experiment a little. Even a subject-specific weblog benefits from a bit of whimsy now and again.
Again, Blood’s article only differs slightly to the previous two, perhaps more in her choice of words. The core message that each author was trying to convey was that with weblogs you need to be commited to it in everyway possible, which means that you need to continually improve it and be aware of the content you share.
TASK 4.2: REFERENCED, INFORMED WRITING
Reading:
Rebecca Blood “Weblog Ethics”
http://www.rebeccablood.net/handbook/excerpts/weblog_ethics.html
WRITE: Make a note of Rebecca’s 6 Standards. What are your thoughts about them?
Rebecca Blood’s 6 Stardards are:
1. Publish as fact only that which you believe is true
2. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it
3. Publicy correct any misinformation
4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry
5. Disclose any conflict of interest
6. Note questionable and biased sources
I agree with Blood and believe her 6 standards are fair and easy enough to be followed by all webloggers. In the article the main word throughout the article that stood out to me was integrity. It is true that everything we write must be written with the utmost integrity because we are communicating with a much larger network than we would think. I would hate to publish something that was inaccurate or was in some way defamatory as our actions online, just as they would in person, have ramifications that can have devastating effects on individuals or groups. Keeping these standards in mind prevents webloggers from doing this and so action needs to be taken to make sure that webloggers are aware of them.
Further Readings:
(i) Australian Journalist’s Association (AJA) Code of Ethics
http://www.alliance.org.au/component/option,com_docman/Itemid,0/task,doc_download/gid,54/
(ii) French Journalists Sans Frontiers Handbook for CyberDissidents, “What Ethics Should Bloggers Have?” (P.22)
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=20 (this is not the exact document as the document was provided as a PDF file from teaching staff. It is a link the the organisations’s homepage)
(iii) COBE: A Proposed Code of Ethics
http://blogethics2004.blogspot.com/
WRITE: How could the principles set out in the AJA Code of Ethics be used to inform your entries?
Although as it has been stated in Rebecca Blood’s article on ethical standards, mentioned above, that the majority of webloggers are not journalists, these principles guide us in thinking like journalists and hence encourage us to write with integrity just as journalists should be doing. The principles are commited to honesty, fairness, independence and respect for the rights of others.
WRITE: Review the site in which “COBE: A Proposed Code of Ethics” is published – in particular the proposed code of ethics entry posted on 27th March, 2005.
The site was a great example of ethics in action. As a blog itself, we see how the blogger has been ethical in his approach to writing. He acknowledges sources that he has consulted by name and by linking them, he posts revised editions of his work rather than just delete, and he respects others in that when he states that he has reviewed comments he doesn’t criticise them, he just offers his own insighful opinion, just to name a few. His proposed code of ethics included:
1. Promote interactivity
2. Promote free expression
3. Strive for factual truth
4. Be as transparent as possible
5. Promote the human element in blogging
WRITE: Based on the three readings, determine your principles for ethical publishing.
(These are contained on a separate page titled, “This Blogger’s Publishing Ethics”)
TASK 4.3: IDENTIFYING A NETWORK
The best way to identify a network is to find a “hub”. A hub is a key resource – someone who knows (or refers to) lots of other people – they don’t have to be an expert in the field of knowledge. In social groups, they are the person you would ask… “Do you know someone who….” and they usually do! Once you have located a hub – you can use their list of links (or their blogrolls) to find other members of the network.
TASK: Using some of the previous references developed in this subject, locate a couple of hub weblogs and use these to identify other weblogs of interest to you.
(See homepage for links to hubs as well as links to the weblogs of my peers)
TASK 4.4: PARTICIPATING IN A NETWORK
Reading: Stuart Henshall “To Comment or to Blog” 20 November 2003
http://www.henshall.com/blog/archives/000599.html
The article provided a good background to commenting however I did get confused reading it as there were a few words I was quite unsure of, namely ‘trackback’. After using the glossaries I bookmarked in my del.icio.us account I was unsucessful in defining it and so I searched it in Wikipedia and here are my results:
“A Trackback is an acknowledgment. This acknowledgment is sent via a network signal (ping) from the originating site to the receiving site. The receptor often publishes a link back to the originator indicating its worthiness. Trackback requires both sites to be Trackback enabled in order to establish this communication. Trackback does not require the originating site to be physically linked to the receiving site.
Trackbacks are used primarily to facilitate communication between blogs; if a blogger writes a new entry commenting on, or referring to, an entry found at another blog, and both blogging tools support the TrackBack protocol, then the commenting blogger can notify the other blog with a “TrackBack ping”; the receiving blog will typically display summaries of, and links to, all the commenting entries below the original entry. This allows for conversations spanning several blogs that readers can easily follow.”
I’ve begun commenting on a few of my friend’s blogs but the comments are limited to “hellos” and replies to their comments.
