What's up with Blogging these days?

[T-O]

So come on.. I must say I jumped right in the hipe of the blogging and I've been blogging for the last 4 months.

Some how people started taking bloggers serious. I've read somewhere that bloggers are a new breed of journalists. Taking in the facts and publishing the cool hard trueth. ("Some thing not found in todays papers or news channles") Where are these blog's?

What's your optinion on Blogging?
For me it's just somewhere I can release some stuff on my mind and I feel better after writing it. "Ofcorse, It's not ment to be read my anyliving soul."

Bloggers are faster then the media,
Bloggers post the cold hard trueth,
Bloggers use facts,
Bloggers don't have a boss.

These things are what I get to hear, In my case 3/4 are wrong.

[cigar]

It may be the case that 3 out of 4 are wrong for you, but you live in a country which is very different to say Iraq or China. In the UK and the US we are presented with a certain picture of the world by our media - mostly that our governments are great and only do things which are good and wonderful. Blogging gives normal people a chance to express what is happening in their lives, and which is hidden from view by global media.

So, in Iraq, a person who is on the receiving end of the bombs can have a say; in China, a person who has to deal with state censorship and persecution can have a say and be heard by other people around the world.

Specifically for the ones you mention:

Bloggers are faster than the media -

Blogging deals with a person's life, whereas media reports generally deal with the 'larger picture'. Blogging can be a lot quicker than the media, of course, but the message may be different. But that's the point.

Bloggers post the cold hard truth -

Of course they don't, just like the media doesn't.

Bloggers use facts -

No, and neither does the media (this is the same as above)

Bloggers don't have a boss -

This seems unrelated to the general discussion. Bloggers do it for themselves.

So I agree that 3 out of 4 are wrong (maybe 2 out of 4 - the middle 2, with blogging being faster, but on a different track to the media), but not for the reasons that you are probably thinking of.

[Pomme_]

Interesting subject!!
Bloggers are faster than the media. Not always, since many blogs come around a discussion with what the media relayed. But ok.
Bloggers do not post the cold hard truth. The media doesn't either, but they really SHOULD, because it is their job.
Bloggers use fact. I actually think they do, in a sense that they believe them as facts. News media do too. There's actually a journalist charter that journalists should abide too (I'll look for it and edit) and it takes the "fact" factor into account.
Bloggers don't have a boss. Mmmh, not always, but that's beside the point. I think it is really related, and probably one of the most relevant up to now. The boss is the one that puts pressure on you, that takes objectivity away from you, because he, himself is under the pressure of lobbies and other bosses.
And bloggers don't do it for themselves!!! please. You think they're all egocentric enough to write post 4 000 chars long just for themselves?


But we're actually missing the point here. What's really relevant about blogging, and what (imo) makes it a new breed of journalism, is that it is
1) prolific (making a blog is easy, making a TVshow is hard)
2) there can be an exchange of views with anyone who would want to participate.

[T-O]

Bloggers don't have a boss -

This seems unrelated to the general discussion. Bloggers do it for themselves.

Ofcorse not, The Papers and News Channles Have a Boss. per exsample, Fox! Displaying a totally other picture then CNN. has nothing to do with the people working there. It's all by some guy higher up.



But we're actually missing the point here. What's really relevant about blogging, and what (imo) makes it a new breed of journalism, is that it is
1) prolific (making a blog is easy, making a TVshow is hard)
2) there can be an exchange of views with anyone who would want to participate.

Bloggin is easy.


And bloggers don't do it for themselves!!! please. You think they're all egocentric enough to write post 4 000 chars long just for themselves?

Let's just split this up into two types of blogs, The personal and the News Blog. Personal Blogs something like a online diary and a News Blog, Professinal news controvesial idea's and fast news.
Ther personal blogs are for them self, and News blog yes, maybe they do write "for the people."

[SlowRoasted]

one day i might make a blog, but right now i dont have one. Anyone can be posting on a blog, ANYONE. You could have that ding bat paris hilton posting on the blog for all we know. You cant make any assumptions about a blogger. Well, maybe that they are a human and breathing. :smirk:

[amitgeorge]

I seriously doubt the concept of blogging....
I mean the purpose of blogging or for that matter any kind of writing is to be read.... The situation s akin to that of internet.... Initially there was such a noise about webstes and this and that... Then so many opened up that now trafic generation is a full time business. With so many blogs and bloggers, I doubt if people will be reading all that... And then it will be only by chance that a Journalist will find your blog even remotly interesting to mention it somewhere in here story

[dgrhm]

The drawback to blogging as a news source is the verifiability of information. How credible is some guy sitting at his PC in his bathrobe?

I think what news-bloggers need is a system that verifies the information as factual. If there was a network or means of certifying bloggers as journalists, then I think they could get credibility.

I think another thing to consider is the potential to skew information toward the personal biases of the blogger. In that case, the blogger skews information that is only favorable to a particular cause or effort.

What happens in that case is readers will only get information from sources that agree with their world view, and in essence bloggers will only preach to the choir.

Granted, the potential for blogging as a news source is phenomenal. We could certainly use a better source for spreading news around the world, and it would certainly help in making the world a more democratic place.

[lostinbeta]

I think what news-bloggers need is a system that verifies the information as factual. If there was a network or means of certifying bloggers as journalists, then I think they could get credibility.

A lot of the more credible news bloggers link back to their original sources. Take www.senocular.com for example. Sure it's not a standard world/local/regional news blog, but it's news and he posts sources of his information. The way it should be done.

[hl]

i don't understand web logs this days (blog)

it's meant to be a log online
how did your day go, etc.

i don't think it was supposed to be so blown out of proportions to be news and stuff

it was supposed to be a journal... and before... no one cared if people visited their blog. and strangers come up to it seemed weird. news is totally wrong... it's their life... not the worlds.

how about a nblog for reporters... news log :)

[bwh2]

With so many blogs and bloggers, I doubt if people will be reading all that... And then it will be only by chance that a Journalist will find your blog even remotly interesting to mention it somewhere in here storythat's why you're seeing a lot of blogs becoming very specialized (like a blog specifically devoted to web standards). in the end, we are all probably better off because the content is more focused and accessible.

[Prancer]

blogging, pssh, whats the point of having an online journal. Well fine, if per say a kid in Iraq did a blog then sure I'd be okay with that, learning about other peoples lives in different countries. But I mean, if it's only to talk about one's exam that's going to come up in a week or what have you then why dont you just get a journal. I'm alright with the fact that people share their opnions and daily life on the web, but really, why would I want to share my uneventful life on the web. If it was eventful and had an impact on others, in the sense of exposing something or what-have-you, then sure go ahead and blog. But for the most part, blogs dont have any real importance.

edit\\ Other than specific blogs as metioned above

[lostinbeta]

But for the most part, blogs dont have any real importance. I find that to be mostly true as well. At least for personal blogs.

I check some focused subject blogs (such as senoculars blog) because I like how it's what I want to know without anything else added in there that I don't need to know such as news on other subjects. I like it being concentrated. There's a lot of blogs out there that do that in certain programming fields.

As for personal blogs and posting uneventful lives. Yes, I used to wonder what the point was, until a lot of my friends moved away and/or I just lost touch with them. My blog is my way of letting them know how things are going for me when I can't be online. I don't do the email thing because that can be tedious between all my friends, and I'm sure it would annoy if I just kept sending them emails updating them on my life. So instead I give them the option, if they want to know whats going on with me, check my blog, otherwise, I will talk to you when I talk to you. Making it public extends this to my online pals who I unfortunately end up neglecting due to work and what little social life I have ;)