I am establishing my first blog page but am finding the whole process difficult. The technical aspects are relatively easy to solve although not without teething problems. I am sure it is a generational problem.
My generation kept personal diaries and logs but, fearful of scorn and ridicule, carefully hid them to guard against others accessing them and exposing their contents.
Historians delight in discovering diaries or groups of letters from previous times. They give an insight, not only into the person(s) concerned but into the attitudes and life-styles of others in that era and geographic location. Examples of these include collections of letters from the war front and letters between people of like interests (politicians, artists, scientists, etc.).
Nearly all of these have one common feature, historians obtained them posthumously and hence their study and publication did not cause the authors embarrassment or leave them open to legal (or physical) retribution.
However, in "Blah, Blah, Blah and Blog" Manjoo (2002) says a figure of 500,000 blogs have been estimated to have been created. It seems that many of these are in the form of a personal diary where thoughts on other people and events are discussed with little thought to testing the veracity of the information provided. The writers not only publish this comment for anyone to see, they make matters worse by tagging so that their contribution can be found more easily. While I applaud the right of people to speak freely, in these litigious times I find it difficult to comprehend the vast numbers of people publishing casual conversation pieces, in permanent form, in such a public forum with little thought to the consequences.
The blog as a discussion between a group of individuals I can comprehend. I even feel that this is a good way to share and discuss our current course. My problem at the moment is to define what expectations, checks and prohibitions are needed in order to safely publish in this very open medium.
Manjoo, F. (2002)Blah,Blah, Blah and Blog. Retrieved March 2, 2009, from www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/02/50433
I don't buy into the blogging/generational issue. Some of the best bloggers are more mature. Good prose is good prose. Don't let that story hold you back from participating in a world wide conversation that's changing society and culture. You're not on this course by accident. So throw yourself in and feel your way through the experience. Lecture over :-)
ReplyDeleteagree with peter. to keep up with younger generation, we the mature have to venture out in the world wide web to have the 'youthfulness' experience again. i remember this when i was young and now a mother to two girls, "my parents do not understand what i am going through at this age!"
ReplyDeleteAs I said above I have conquered my qualms and am now starting to enjoy myself. Will have to watch though as a talk a lot normally.
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