Blogs as a new media genre

The task says to do some online research about blogs so I've looked at a few websites and have used relevant points here. Then I will add some of my opinions.

• Blog as a communication tool which encourages open debate/discussion and instant feedback.
• It could be argued that blogging is pointless, however, it needs to be taken more seriously as ''citizen journalism is now a recognised and valid new media genre'' (Winder 2006).
• Blogs are now being used not only by individuals with something they want to say, but by corporations, for information distribution reasons.
• Manipulation of content in the form of blogs are common in new media, as more and more 'feature-rich' packages are developed, which allow users to build content freely.
• Davey Winder sees blogs as one of the most powerful collaberative online communication mediums.

Ideas from http://www.iwr.co.uk/information-world-review/features/2168443/online-tools-blogs-wikis

I found this about the history of the blog:

''In 1998 there were just a handful of sites of the type that are now identified as weblogs (so named by Jorn Barger in December 1997). Jesse James Garrett, editor of Infosift, began compiling a list of "other sites like his" as he found them in his travels around the web. In November of that year, he sent that list to Cameron Barrett. Cameron published the list on Camworld, and others maintaining similar sites began sending their URLs to him for inclusion on the list. Jesse's 'page of only weblogs' lists the 23 known to be in existence at the beginning of 1999.
Suddenly a community sprang up. It was easy to read all of the weblogs on Cameron's list, and most interested people did. Peter Merholz announced in early 1999 that he was going to pronounce it 'wee-blog' and inevitably this was shortened to 'blog' with the weblog editor referred to as a 'blogger.' ''

From http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html

Naturally, i used Wikipedia to find some general info, so here is the link to the blog page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

New Media Lecture - 13th Feb 07

Ok, so the lecture finished half an hour ago so I thought I would post my notes and thoughts on here. I really enjoyed this lecture, i found it useful and very interesting which never usually happens for me! Anyways, here we go:

Steve Jones refers to the notion of communication relying on CMC (Computer Mediated Communication) ''Cyber Society''.

We seem to live in a somewhat neo-centric culture/consumer culture - we like the new/progress and the internet allows us to exchange complex textual and multimedia messages.

The question 'Does the internet take us beyond existing forms of community?' was posed and the answer seems to most definitely be YES. Not only do people live in offline communities in the 'real world', but now people can live in online communities in a virtual world.

Guy mentioned www.well.com - the longest surviving online community and generally the most famous in critical circles. This is a useful site to look at as it is an example of a community going online, and creating a virtual community (extending their existing community). It is an example of a collaberative online forum - where everyone can play a part in sharing things with eachother - Well.com acts almost like a community centre, but online. It requires people to use their real identities. This could be a good thing as it allows for users to see eachother's true identities without worrying about who they are talking to (see forum discussion at http://mchome.lincoln.ac.uk/subsite/week3groupb/week3groupb_toc.htm). Sites like Well.com are more about culture than technology and they have certain values just like an offline community would, and interactions that take place of them are community building to a certain extent. This brings up the idea that maybe online communities are not 100% different from offline ones - things like antisocial behaviour can occur on them as they can occur in offline communities - ie. flaming.

Michelle Wilson

This picture obviously is not the Michelle Wilson I am talking about but I did a google image search and chose to use this one. I then wanted to delete it but didnt know how!!!! Damn thing!!

Wilson sees virtual community as a 'withdraw' from the commitments of the arena of local community. She argues that online communities are abstract and users' interactions with eachother are abstract aswell. Her arguments are about being disconnected from real embedded social environments and that people are better off engaging in real social communities (not virtual ones). However, Wilson's arguments can be looked at sceptically, as it seems as though she has an idealisation of offline communities. What needs to be looked at, it seems, is the features of a community in general ----------> Steve Jones says that real community involves continuity over time, with people investing in it, not just take take take from time to time! Who's to say that this is not possible with ONLINE communities???

It could be argued that online communities are not truly diverse (in comparison to offline communities) and that users do not have to face the challenge of getting on with all kinds of different people.

At this point the lecture changed in subject slightly and the focus was more on social networking sites and blogging:

Guy mentioned Web 2.0.....and at the moment I am not quite sure exactly what this is.

Sites such as Napster allow peer to peer file sharing, creating a sort of community of sharing online.

Blogging and social networking sites

Blogging basically brought social network media into existance and allowed for more of a 'feature-rich' package and developed interactivity. The writers and readers of blogs have a relationship like that of producers and consumers, with blogging sites becoming consuming friendly (users do not have to worry about codes etc).

Social networking sites are very much based around user generated content ------> the site acts as a structure and the user adds the content (this is seen on sites such as Myspace, Facebook etc). Classification systems on these sites are defined by the users (ie. tagged photos on sites like Facebook).

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Guy then mentioned the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Because it is a user generated encyclopedia it is often looked upon as being somewhat unreliable and this raises issues about who can believe that is written there etc. However, I started thinking that this isn't strictly an issue to do with online stuff. This is what I mean: We all sit in lectures listening to the tutor and making notes from them and what they say. But who's to say that they are even telling the truth? They could be lying about everything but because we do not know any better we just accept it as truth. This goes to show that the virtual world (online) and the 'real' world (offline) are not neccessarily so different. Just something to think about....not that I'm accusing the lecturers of being big fat liars or anything. ;-)

My weird way of proving a point...

In case anyone has seen the post in Group A's forum that says ''Group A is inferior to both other groups'' I would like to confess.....it was me who posted it. I wanted to (aside from being somewhat amusing), prove a point about how easy it is to withhold one's identity online. It was almost as if i was just a random voice saying stupid stuff rather than actually being a person! I also noticed that my anonymous post encouraged another anonymous post in reply to it...thats something to think about.

Becky's Blog

I have just been reading Becky's blog: http://rscofield.blogspot.com/2007/02/actually-got-passionate-about-part-of.html and found what she said to be interesting. I agree with what she said about people needing social interaction in the real world, not just through virtual reality. The Second Life site (i assume this is the site she was referring to) in my opinion is a load of rubbish! I could not think of anything less appealing than living a completely virtual life! The example of shopping that Becky gave is a good one, as it highlights how virtual reality and 'online' living affects us. It might be easier to shop online, but it can't entirely be blamed on 'busy' lifestyles.....online food shopping for example is a recent thing (who had heard of it before a few years ago?). I agree with Becky when she mentions laziness and it seems to be the start of a much larger phenomenom....what else will we use the internet for in the future?

Learning Journal Task - Week 3

Choose a web forum and undertake a brief analysis of its dynamics as a communication form.
I have decided to use a forum on digitalspy.co.uk to look at. The forum calls itself a ''digital entertainment community'', as the site itself is based around digital entertainment (ie. TV, music, broadcasting, radio, technology etc). As a communication form it is effective for those who which to select it as a communication form. The site is organised into various categories so users can chose whichever forum they are interested in and the site in general is easy to use, which allows for easier communication. Here is the link for the site: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/

The first thing I noticed when I started viewing users' posts was the names people use when they sign up. The majority of users do not use their real names, but instead opt for some sort of name that is typical of an online forum (ie. musicman06). This raises questions of how safe this kind of communication is and how involved users want to get with this virtual reality. Have a look at my views on withholding identity online at the Group B forum: http://mchome.lincoln.ac.uk/subsite/week3groupb/week3groupb_toc.htm

This is all I have time to do at the moment, so will edit this post and finish it off when I can!!

Grrrrr!!!!!!

I am getting so confused as to what is meant to go on the blog and what is meant to go on the forum!!! I keep reading people's forum posts and have no idea where they are getting the subjects from....ive looked on the weekly study guides and the tasks on Guy's portal site (learning journal stuff) but im still confused! Somebody shoot me now!! Im going to email Guy and try and find out what the hell I need to do!! :-)

Learning Journal Tasks

Find some examples of, and discuss websites that invite the user to have an interactive role.

The most obvious examples of websites that encourage users to have an interactive role are ones such as Myspace and Facebook etc. These are online communities where users can create social networks and post photos, blogs, comments on eachothers pages etc.

What's the nature of that role?

Lister mentions that interactivity is part of new media, and that 'old' media only offers passive consumption (pg.20). Comparing sites such as Myspace to other sites that don't offer interactivity displays this. When a person logs on to Myspace, they are not expected to simply consume passively, but to become involved and to interact with other members, and the site itself. An interactive role instantly offers the user more choice, and the user takes a definite active role, rather than a passive one. Lister argues that the ''audience for new media becomes a 'user' rather than the 'viewer' (pg.21); switching from a passive role to an active one.

What are the interactions on offer?

Myspace has a number of features that allow the user to actively interact with other users first and foremost. Users can comment on eachothers profiles/pictures, send direct messages to eachother and join groups which allows users to post on forums. Users can also interact with non-individuals, such as bands or comedy groups etc. Myspace offers a download service which allows users to download certain music from musicians' pages.

How can you understand them (the interactions) in terms of theories of interactivity?

I AM NOT REALLY SURE HOW TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION YET, I WILL DO SOME MORE RESEARCH ETC AND THEN ATTEMPT TO ANSWER IT LATER.

How, in your opinion/experience, does hypertext shape the experience of using the World Wide Web?

In my experience, hypertext makes navigation on the internet much easier and simple than it would be if none of the information available online was linked in any way. Hypertext allows for organisational format that allows for ''pathways'' (Lister pg.24) to other linked information, and this has made the internet more simple to use, and definitely more efficient in my opinion.