HW 13: Blogs Will Change Your Business

After reading "Blogs Will Change Your Business" by Stephen Baker and Heather Green, I came to realize that the role that blogs play in business is very important. Not only are blogs important for advertisement purposes, but also to keep track of how your customers feel about the product you are presenting them, and to get feed back on what could be changed. As Baker and Green quite frankly state, " Blogs are not a business elective. They're a prerequisite". Businesses who now have blogs in a sense are more powerful; they are putting themselves out there and making their product known. A lot of people used to think that blogging was just a fad that would soon be replaced by something new, nothing to take too seriously. However, having blogs when you are running a business has proven to be an extreme success.All this is not to say that blogs do not play an important role in day to day communication for many people world wide. Many people need to put their feelings out there and blogs are the perfect way to do so. The world is becoming more and more dependent on technology and at the rate it is prospering I feel that blogging will become a major part of businesses.

HW 11: Making Global Voices Heard

While looking over all the blogs, I decided to look into Jeff Ooi's blog at http://jeffooi.com. I thought his blog might be interesting because he is known to be the voice of the younger generation. This immediately appealed to me because I might be able to understand where he is coming from more than I would an adult. Ooi talks about the government of Malaysia and about the corruption that is taking place. When looking through his blog, I found that Ooi talks a lot about what is going on throughout Malaysia, He is either challenging some of the news report stories or simply stating what is going on for other people to read. His blog is plain, red titles and black writing, he posts videos and images on his blog to illustrate what he is talking about. He talks about what is going on throughout Malaysia that might not always come up on the day-to-day news. One of the blogs that Ooi writes about is Marcel Marceau, the clown who recently passed away; it includes a video and picture of Marceau and some of the famous quotes he has said throughout his lifetime. I feel that what MacKinnon said about Ooi's blog is pretty accurate and up to date, Ooi still talks about politics and his blog seems like a news report station that people might go to in order to find out interesting information and different opinions of what is happening. Looking at his website many news reporters or political people would have trouble understanding how someone who is not a professional and younger than them could have something important to say. However, everyone's opinion is important and Ooi's in particular has seemed to catch many people's attention and trust.

HW 9: A Weblog Saved My Life

When reading "A Weblog Saved My Life Last Night", I was a little shocked at the title; I never thought that a Weblog could save someone's life. Ayelet Waldman explains how when she wrote a suicide note on her blog, it ultimately saved her life. People responded and reached out to her, letting her know that she had a serious problem and was not thinking clearly. Although I think that it is great that the people on Ayelet's weblog helped her out, I think that she overlooks all the blogs that are made for depressed suicidal people. Normally suicidal people talking to other depressed people does not work out well. So even though it is a nice story of how blogging helped her out, I would not encourage others to go online and chat about how they are going to kill themselves. I do agree with the statement that Waldman makes when she says, "the blogosphere has given these people a sense of community". I believe that people often blog for that exact reason, wanting to feel as if they are a part of something bigger, like a community. So I have mixed feelings about blogging online as a daily routine, especially expressing your inner feelings, although it could end up saving your life, it also could be very dangerous. There are many predators online that will influence your thoughts for the worst. My solution to this would be to make sure you are entering a blogging community that is known to be safe and helpful.

HW 7: My So-Called Blog

I think it would be ridiculous for parents to monitor everything that their child is writing online. One would hope that the parents would have enough confidence in their children to know that what they are writing online should remain private, and is most likely nothing horrible. I believe that middle school children especially need online resources to know that other people may be having the same problems as them. Ultimately, I feel that online journals are just a phase that young adolescents go through. In “My So-Called Blog”, Emily Nussabaum states, “ But for a significant number, they become a way of life, a daily record of a community’s private thoughts- a kind of invisible high school that floats above the daily life of teenagers.” (Kline and Burstein 351) Nussabaum is right in stating that the online life for most teenagers is a way of interacting with their friends, almost like another high school. Sometimes teenagers have a hard time talking about their insecurities, especially to their parents. Middle School is a very awkward time for most adolescents. Blogs such as LiveJournal and Xanga provide an outlet for some teens to get out what is bothering them and in turn find others who are having the same types of problems. Nussabaum explains, “ If teen bloggers give something up by sloughing off a self-protective layer, they get something back too- a new kind of intimacy, a sense that they are known and listened to.” (Kline and Burstein 352) In reality that’s the whole reason that most young adolescences blog, to feel that they are listened to, to let out their feelings and hopefully get something back in return. I think it would be silly for parents to track everything that their child is writing about online. Even though some things may be upsetting, the majority of the posting will be about daily events and expressing who they really are without feeling as if they are putting themselves out there too much.

HW 5 B : Problems through blogging

When reading “I Blog, Therefore I Am”, I had many questions about certain parts of the reading. The paragraph that I had the most trouble understanding was on page 249. David Kline suggests that the number of people attending therapy sessions is declining because the internet is opening up new ways to talk about your problems through blogging. He claims that “ one must assume that the more deliberatively people appraise and document their lives, the more purposefully those lives will be lived.” Kline insists that when people are talking to other people about their problems they will come together to overcome them. I have a hard time understanding where he is coming from in stating this. Blogging today may be a way for people to talk to others about their ongoing problems, but I do not believe that it is always a healthy way to go about it. Take for example the blogging websites about suicide; people who are depressed talking to other people who are depressed can never lead to a positive outcome. In many cases families end up finding out after the matter that their child was going through depression because instead of going for professional help they joined a community of people feeling the same way they were and ended up ending their lives. Although blogging communities may be a good way for some people to talk about their problems, I do not by any means believe that it is a better place to go to than professional help.

HW 6: Semester-Long Project Interests

When reviewing the paper with all the topics for the semester long research project, I found myself a little overwhelmed as to what to choose. A lot of the options I had never heard of before, nor did I know much about them. After going over what each option was, I decided that it would be interesting to learn more about e-learning and distance education. My cousin who lives in Colorado doesn’t go to Middle School instead she takes courses online for all of her education. Another subject that caught my eye was social networking services, like facebook and myspace, because everyone I know uses them and I am interested in learning more about other networking services. And finally, chat rooms and text chats, which I know of but would like to know more about. The types of empowerment I would like to know more about include: overcoming sexism, issues of disabilities or learning differences, and issues of refugees. These topics all interest me because I don’t know a lot about how they would come into place on the Internet. Some areas that I think I would like looking at include North America and Europe. I think it would be interesting seeing what is happening in the country in which I live. Also Europe interests me because I have always wanted to travel there so its fun learning about the differences and similarities that their countries has in comparison to ours.

HW 4: Option 2

When I walked into my room the product that caught my eye was the skinny purple bottle of heavenly softlotion. Its promise to “melt away stress” is what caught my eye in the store. As I took a closer look at the bottle I realized that it had a lot more promises than just to “melt away stress”. Johnson’s softlotion promises to “help you sleep better by melting away at your muscle tension” and with “Aromasoothe” it is shown to quiet your senses. When I went to www.jnj.com to find out more about the promises that Johnson & Johnson had to offer, I found out that it promises to “help people live longer and healthier lives”. It also says that if you use Johnson’s softlotion you will “maintain healthy skin for life.” In my experience with using the product I have discovered that the promise to help you maintain healthy skin is true, also the lotion does have a scent that calms your senses and relaxes your body, which in turn helps you sleep. I can not be too sure if the promise “helps people live longer and healthier lives” is true because I have not been using it all my life nor do I know if I hadn’t been using it my life would be much different. However, I am always impressed when using lotion from Johnson & Johnson because I believe that it makes my skin a lot healthier than other skin care products.

HW 3: Respond to "Toward a More Participatory Democracy"

In David Kline’s “ Toward a More Participatory Democracy”, he makes some very compelling points on the issue of how involved the world is on political blogging. Most people would not believe that political blogging is actually a more used and trusted source than newspapers. Newspapers have been found to have errors, known facts that suddenly become fictional, and do not tell the whole truth at times. Political blogs online often release untold information about politics, war, and religion; furthermore they have a wider variety of topics to read about. The newspaper and news shows limit what topics they talk about, often the same subjects repeatedly; whereas online news blogs appeal to everyone because there will always be information on the topic you want to know more about. During the election most candidates used online blogs to gather money, inform people about themselves and get a following of supporters. In turn the voters get to gather further information about the candidates to make a more informed vote. Bloggers can quickly gather up various statistics about their favored candidate, and meet others who are also interested in the certain candidate. The only downside that I can see from political blogging is that the arguments online are more informal and therefore might not appear to be as intelligent.

HW 2: Posting to your reading response blog

Blogging has opened a door to many as a means of communication. Certain blogging websites such as myspace, facebook, and other communities allow people to talk to each other, gather information about one another and serve as a place where people can be as open as they please. Facebook is commonly used among college students, it has communities that students can belong to ranging from their interests, where they are going to school to what concerns them most. Many students use facebook before entering college to find out who they are living with, who is going to be in their class, and get a feel for the people who are going to be attending the same school as them. Blogging websites are a way for even the most self-conscious people to put themselves out there, come out of their shell, and meet people they normally would be to afraid to approach in person. It allows people with similar interests to meet and talk about what they enjoy and possibly become friends. As Kline stated blogging has become “ the key metaphor for interactivity, community-building, and genuine conversation.” I think blogging will continue to grow as a means of communication across the world.