HW 13: "Blogs Will Change Your Business"

When reading "Blogs Will Change Your Business" by Stephen Baker and Heather Green, in my opinion I think that the impact of blogging on business or more important that the impact of blogging on communication that is not business. "Let's assume that 99.9 % are equally off point. So what? That leaves some 40 new ones every day that could be talking about you business, engaging your employees, or leaking those merger discussions you thought were hush-hush" (Kline, 223), with having blogging make such an impact on business. Blogging is able to update people with what their workers and what they are doing, incase threes anything that’s going on, a business can be informed. Companies use blogs for publicity. On page 227 Steve Rubel speaks about blogs and how they are monitored to see what is being said about your company. Another reason I think blogging on business is more important is because it allows people to find out different information, good or bad on businesses their interested in. As Kline writes on 223 it’s a way for companies to view their competitors. Blogging is a way for companies to promote what they are all about and what they stand for. At first glance, teenagers might say that blogging on communication is more important. But on closer inspection you start to realize just how big of an affect blogging on business can have on people.

HW 11: "Making Global Voices Heard"

When reading the first page MacKinnon goes into talking about how blogosphere is a way for people in other countries to understand things in a better way. So that is why I decided to look at what MacKinnon calls her "current musings" at rconversation.blogs.com/. In the reading MacKinnon is asked how weblogs affects other countries, she responds by saying "In China for instance, you have a situation where all the newspapers and online news sites are controlled. Many of them may be commercially owned but the Chinese communist party still has quite a bit of control over what can and can't be said"(Kline, 327) Of course many people will probably disagree with this assertion that the Chinese can't say things that we would normally be able to post on a blog and not have to worry about it being taken down, but in reality they DO have to watch the things they say. After reading that in David Kline’s 'Bog', I clicked on a featured post on RConversation called "Tough times for Chinese bloggers", this post has a red, black and white picture above it featuring something written out in Chinese and has what looks like many people shouting and cheering holding things in their hands. I think this Blog still corresponds to MacKinnon’s view of it, because this Post goes on to say "Starting this month we've seen blog posts being deleted in places where they almost never used to, comment sections being closed out of fear..." (http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2007/09/tough-times-for.html). The Chinese are monitored with was put up on the Internet and they have to be careful. MacKinnon talks about how interesting the things Chinese have to say are, but at the same time how censored most of it is too. "The mainstream media doesn't like to challenge authority or point out corruption" (Kline, 329)

HW 9: "A Weblog Saved My Life Last Night"

After reading, “A Web log Saved My Life Last Night” by Ayelet Waldman, I decided that I agreed with most of what Waldman was saying. She goes on throughout the interview talking about how personal blogs can be and why women write on them and say some of the things they say. On pg. 313 Walman is asked the question "what about you weblog? That became extremely personal you wrote about your sex life with you husband, your feelings for your children; by the end you had posted a thinly veiled suicide note" (Kline, 313). When reading that blog at first I’m sure people did not now how to react, because I know I wouldn’t. The first thing that would go through my head would be "wow, this woman needs help". Which is what her friend thought, because in the end, that post she wrote about taking her life ended up saving her life, "In a way I'm really proud of that post" (Kline, 313) says Waldman. I agree that sucicide is a serious issue, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people never really think about it, let alone think someone they know would possibly have those thoughts.The things Ayelet Walkman wrote about were at times 'brutally honest' but in a way that’s a good thing. She wrote what she felt, and knew that people were going to see it. Writing that blog saved her life and writing about her other issues made her realize that life isn't easy, but now she is able to help others and support them with the same type of issues.

HW 7: "My So-Called Blog"

After reading Kline’s "My So-Called Blog" in my personal opinion I think that parents should no have to monitor their child as to what the write online. Blogging is a way for one to express themselves and not worry about what others think or are going to say to themselves, that way that just write. An example of this is what Kline writes about on the bottom of page 352 to the top of page 353, "A way to get out his true feelings-all the emotions he thought might get him in trouble if he expressed them in school or at home. Online, he could blurt out his confessions of loneliness and insecurity, worrying aloud about slights from friends" (Kline, 352). Being able to write online is a way of independence and a way for one to express their feelings. Sometimes people are shy about saying what they feel and if blogging is a way for them to open up then they should be allowed to do so, freely. Blogging is just a way for one to write about anything they want. In many ways it is the same thing as if their child was to keep a diary, and most parents out of respect don't read their child diary. If a child knew that there parent was monitoring their every move then they might not be as open to say what they really want or feel.

HW 6: Semester-Long Project Statement

When looking at the different topics for the research paper the ones that first caught my attention are Email and Email lists, instant messaging, and social networking services. The reason I was most interested in these is because I use them and feel most comfortable talking about them and being able to relate them. I’m sure that there are many things that I don’t know about them and don’t think about while using them, which makes me even more interested to find out more. When looking at the second category about types of empowerment it was a bit harder to choose because there weren’t many I knew much about, so I chose what would be most interesting to me. I ended up choosing overcoming racism, inequities in access to education, and issues of disabilities. I chose these three things because they most interest more and are the top three I would want to learn more about. As for places I chose the United States and Europe. I chose these two places because I live in the US and I’ve traveled to Europe a few times and I think it would be most interesting to compare these two places since there are many things that are already compared between these two.

I Blog, Therefore I Am" (will blogging mean the death of big media?)

When reading the chapter, “I Blog, Therefore I Am” by David Kline, this chapter talks about the impact blogging has had on our society and just how much its spread throughout people. When reading throughout this chapter I wasn’t sure what I wanted to talk about so I went back and skimmed the chapter and came along the question “ Will blogging mean the death of Big Media” (pg. 239). Which I think is what a lot of this chapter talks about. Reading on Kline talks about the fall in newspapers and that there is a “dramatic drop in newspaper reading among young people”. Speaking from personnel experience not many of my friends read the newspaper to begin with. Because blogging is a source that’s used on the internet and that’s where many young people spend there time, that does seem likely that that’s where they’ve spent some of their time instead of sitting down in the morning with their paper. Accessing blogs might seem easier for young adults to read instead of the paper or watching the news. In my personnel opinion I argue that blogging won’t kill the media because I believe that there are many people still sit back at home and would rather relax and read the paper or watch the news. I’m sure there’s many people that agree with the fact they much rather rely on the news from the TV or paper, rather than what someone is writing expressing how they feel and could very well have a different opinion.