1. The first blog I found was an info blog. This came from ecoearth.info, and was a series of blogs written by a Dr. Glen Barry. These blogs covered a wide range of environmental issues, ranging from protection and conservation of forests to challenging groups such as the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace for supporting certain logging practices.
The nest blog I found was a more "vanity" or personal oriented blog at the site www.mattcutts.com. Matt Cutts works for Google as some kind of technical assistant who answers question online and in the media on behalf of Google. On his site he has many blogs on numerous subjects, such as books, food, music, travel, personal and about ten more. Each of those topics had several blogs within them where readers could reply to Mr. Cutts and post their opinions on the subject.
The two sites were actually relatively similar in presentation while completely different in presentation. Cutt's site had many more topics available to chose and bring up, but once they were on they were presented in a similar manner as Dr. Barry's on the EcoEarth website. They main differences were found in the significance of the readers comments on the blogs. Since it was part of his job, Mr. Cutt's would often reply to those who replied to his blogs. Dr. Barry, however, was more concerned with presenting information and his sources than responding to his readers. Overall however, the two were quite similar in presentation and dramatically different in content.
2. I think blogging works well presenting this kind of information, but still not as well as print. I still stand by the notion that print media is far more reliable than blogging. Any individual could create a slick site and attempt to present news items whether they are true or not, and if the site looks legitimate enough, most would believe it. I know a woman who used an article from The Onion as a source in a speech about how Harry Potter influences children to practice witchcraft if you want an example. However, Dr. Barry's blogs that I viewed were interesting and well but together pieces. I thought this was a very good sample of an information based blog, as he seemed to be a legitimate source and also provided the sources from which he collected his information. As far as a good vanity blog goes, I suppose any could really be classified as good or bad. The basis of these blogs are nothing more than personal opinions and information, so it seems to would take a pretty stupid kind of person to do that wrong. But what do I know. I'm just some ugly looking heavy metal kid.
3. So once again, I still stand by my original thesis and don't really feel the information I found today supported or unsupported my thesis. The info blog I discovered was quite interesting, however I would be much more inclined to read these articles in print form. So yeah, I'm still right.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Module Three
1. The first item I looked at was an Ezine called "The Truth Telling Forum" which I found on the Ezine directory. The site's motto read "An alternative to mainstream media... where the truth sets you free!", so I immediately knew that this was going to have a liberal agenda. The main page of the site featured links to various news articles, grouped by section headers such as Environment and Middle East. The site was set up pretty well and seemed legitimate enough.
The next thing I looked at was the Daily Kos website, which featured many blogs written by different people with an even more leftist agenda. The site featured many links within the blog text linking to the articles they referenced to ensure the readers they weren't just making things up. Once again, the site was well put together and fairly easy to navigate.
2. When comparing the two aforementioned sources, the Ezine seemed more effective overall. The Ezine definitely felt more professional and effective than the blog oriented site, since the Ezine featured "professional" reporters and seemed more legitimate in it's reporting style. The blog site featured anonymous writers with odd screen names and seemed much less professional in style. Since I cheated and used the external links section, they were both quite easy to find. Once again, the Ezine was easier to read, since their articles were formatted in a more traditional sense, whereas the blog site was full of bright colored links (which fried my colorblind brain) and just less professional overall. The events covered were mostly different, with the blogging site focused on the traditional uber-left wing Bush bashing and reports of radical viewpoints of current topics.
3. Once again I din't think any of these things were strong enough to change my view on blogs, so I sill stand with my thesis.
*Edit*-I thought I posted this a couple weeks ago, but I was once again foiled by technology when I did something like clicking "Save as Draft" as opposed to "Publish". Damned technology. I say we throw away the iPods and go back to vinyl. Or else.
The next thing I looked at was the Daily Kos website, which featured many blogs written by different people with an even more leftist agenda. The site featured many links within the blog text linking to the articles they referenced to ensure the readers they weren't just making things up. Once again, the site was well put together and fairly easy to navigate.
2. When comparing the two aforementioned sources, the Ezine seemed more effective overall. The Ezine definitely felt more professional and effective than the blog oriented site, since the Ezine featured "professional" reporters and seemed more legitimate in it's reporting style. The blog site featured anonymous writers with odd screen names and seemed much less professional in style. Since I cheated and used the external links section, they were both quite easy to find. Once again, the Ezine was easier to read, since their articles were formatted in a more traditional sense, whereas the blog site was full of bright colored links (which fried my colorblind brain) and just less professional overall. The events covered were mostly different, with the blogging site focused on the traditional uber-left wing Bush bashing and reports of radical viewpoints of current topics.
3. Once again I din't think any of these things were strong enough to change my view on blogs, so I sill stand with my thesis.
*Edit*-I thought I posted this a couple weeks ago, but I was once again foiled by technology when I did something like clicking "Save as Draft" as opposed to "Publish". Damned technology. I say we throw away the iPods and go back to vinyl. Or else.
Module Two
1.
a. dilbertblog.typepad.com - This here is a link to the blog of the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, in which the author makes "quirky" observations and shills his merchandise.
b. http://blog.rssapplied.com/topics/business-blog - This site has many short blogs offering advice on how to properly produce a business related blog.
c. http://www.advancedbusinessblogging.com/businessblog/blogging-for-business-dispelling-myths-and-clearing-the-muddy-waters/ - This one's a bit more interesting. This a a site run by an author of a book about business blogging, written with a bit of a cynical take.
2. Other means an entrepreneur has to market themselves would be the more "traditional" ways, such as advertisements in various forms of print media (magazines, newspapers, etc) television advertising, and an array of other non-Internet related options.
An advantage blogs can have over these other methods is obvious: blogs allow for the opportunity for said entrepreneur to interact with people interested in their service. Blogging also allows for frequent updates regarding their service or anything that may be related to it.
Blogs can be an effective addition to traditional forms of self-promotion, but would not be a suitable replacement for it. A blog alone does not seem like a safe bet to rely on when one would also have the opportunity to use other means of advertisement. Blogs do have a nice feature in that they offer more detailed and possibly personalized views on the subject, but I'm sure many more consumers would be led to said blog if they had an idea of what they were looking for. So, blogs are a great addition to the method, but not a replacement.
3. I would say the research I found neither supported or unsupported my thesis, since my thesis was in regard to blogging's effect on print journalism, not necessarily advertising. I suppose it could somewhat NOT support my thesis, since it is possible blogs could affect advertising in print media, but I still strongly believe blogging would not replace traditional advertising in any way. So, I stand by my initial thesis at the moment.
The End!
a. dilbertblog.typepad.com - This here is a link to the blog of the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, in which the author makes "quirky" observations and shills his merchandise.
b. http://blog.rssapplied.com/topics/business-blog - This site has many short blogs offering advice on how to properly produce a business related blog.
c. http://www.advancedbusinessblogging.com/businessblog/blogging-for-business-dispelling-myths-and-clearing-the-muddy-waters/ - This one's a bit more interesting. This a a site run by an author of a book about business blogging, written with a bit of a cynical take.
2. Other means an entrepreneur has to market themselves would be the more "traditional" ways, such as advertisements in various forms of print media (magazines, newspapers, etc) television advertising, and an array of other non-Internet related options.
An advantage blogs can have over these other methods is obvious: blogs allow for the opportunity for said entrepreneur to interact with people interested in their service. Blogging also allows for frequent updates regarding their service or anything that may be related to it.
Blogs can be an effective addition to traditional forms of self-promotion, but would not be a suitable replacement for it. A blog alone does not seem like a safe bet to rely on when one would also have the opportunity to use other means of advertisement. Blogs do have a nice feature in that they offer more detailed and possibly personalized views on the subject, but I'm sure many more consumers would be led to said blog if they had an idea of what they were looking for. So, blogs are a great addition to the method, but not a replacement.
3. I would say the research I found neither supported or unsupported my thesis, since my thesis was in regard to blogging's effect on print journalism, not necessarily advertising. I suppose it could somewhat NOT support my thesis, since it is possible blogs could affect advertising in print media, but I still strongly believe blogging would not replace traditional advertising in any way. So, I stand by my initial thesis at the moment.
The End!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Module One
Greetings and salutations children of technology....... this be Matt. After many, many failed attempts at working technology, I have emerged victorious.
I'll start by announcing that I do not believe blogging has significantly impacted the print journalism industry. Since blogs can be created by anyone, I believe many people would hesitate to solely trust blogs as a means of information, and take them for what they are, personal opinions. Furthermore, I believe there are much better and legitimate ways to get information than from blogs.
-Matt
I'll start by announcing that I do not believe blogging has significantly impacted the print journalism industry. Since blogs can be created by anyone, I believe many people would hesitate to solely trust blogs as a means of information, and take them for what they are, personal opinions. Furthermore, I believe there are much better and legitimate ways to get information than from blogs.
-Matt
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