Blogging is hard. Over the years, I have [unsuccessfully] tried to create a blog that would allow me to think and write about any one of my interests. The challenge was never overcoming an unease with technology or figuring out how to use Blogger. Instead, I was unsure of how to cultivate a unique voice in the chaos of the web. And did I really want to put myself out there? Reading Sullivan's Why I Blog confirmed how intense blogging can be--even a pioneer in political blogging can be the recipient of scathing critiques by readers.
The best part about keeping an academic blog is that we, as participants in SWC 200.001, will essentially be discussing what we learn about new media from class, readings, other blogs, etc. This blog won't be a personal online journal--both The Economist and Sullivan liken a blog to less of a diary and more of a log of thoughts and writing--but a structured space in which I can feel out blogging while not revealing too much of myself. At least that's my possibly-naive-first-time-blogger perception of academic blogging.
Sullivan's essay was so insightful, I could see how he had been weaving together his thoughts on blogging over a period of time. It was personal and relatable, yet authoritative at the same time. The most striking concept from both articles was the idea of "linking." The word "link" can be applied to blogging in terms of hyperlinks, which, when placed within a text, allow readers to access primary materials that the blog's author is commenting on. This facilitates a conversation in a way that traditional publishing cannot. Furthermore, hyperlinks allow bloggers to reference outside sources in a condensed way. There isn't a need for summaries when one highlighted and underlined word does the trick.
Sullivan also applies "linking" to how bloggers and their blogs are attached to one another. The "blogroll" feature lets bloggers share and recommend their favorite blogs. The "gadget" feature allows bloggers to link themselves to certain news, sports or lifestyle sites and get daily updates. Being part of a certain niche of bloggers is important to cementing one's status as an authority on a certain topic and allows online conversations to evolve. This blog-linking is essentially another form of networking where mutually beneficial relationships are formed.
One idea Sullivan didn't explore was how visuals can link blogs to one another. How can an image or video act as a source for a blogger? Does it simplify an explanation of a topic in the same way words do? Take an image from the pre-Inauguration celebrations in Washington D.C. over the last few days. How could a blogger use that image--instead of text--to document and explain the historic significance of this new administration? I hope to focus more on this question of the role of the image in future blog posts.
I couldn't agree with you more about the thoughts that cross your mind when you debate having a blog. The very idea is fascinating, but you wonder if you'd really bring something "new" to the table? On one hand you ask, would anyone care what I have to say? While simultaneously, feelings of nervousness set in at the very idea that others might actually read what you write... and possibly hate it or insult you. Sullivan conveys these feelings in a way that is fairly endearing and, like you said, relatable.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I hope that you continue to blog after this class; I feel like you have an interesting concept of the capabilities of blogs, yet are aware of their occasional frivolity. Also, I think your style of writing fits with the purpose of a blog. It has the immediacy and it poses interesting questions from your point of view.
ReplyDeleteYour comment on the use of images, rather than text is interesting. Can a series of images, removed from any text, still convey a coherent message? When is text needed, and when can it be eschewed? I think you're right that an image is a document in and of itself, not just an add-on to text.