Monday, January 28, 2008

Module 4

One of the vanity blogs that I found at Blogger.com was
http://luca-brando.blogspot.com/.
This blog was dedicated to publishing information about the creator's life and family, mainly her two sons. She posts numerous amounts of photos of her two sons, depicting birthdays, first haircuts, holidays, leisure family time, and the birth of her second son. Upon reading her blogs and viewing her photos, I feel like I know her.

One of the information blogs that I found was http://prabha86haran07.blogspot.com/.
It covered a topic of personal interest to the creator, mostly having to do with anything related to cars. He covered the characteristics of the next generation of future cars for the major car companies. He posts photos of these cars, all futuristic looking and almost out of this world. He also comments on such aspects of a car, like the fuel system. This blog was very informative for anyone who is an automobil enthusiast.

Blogging supports all different types of journalism. There are no strict regulations or guidelines on how to construct a blog. Everything depends on the creator, from the topic, to the layout, to the viewpoints, and down to the photos. Print media is more concerned with the content of the material and its relevance in the society. I don't believe the print media is as willing to accept all forms and topics of articles as blogs are. A good informative blog would be just that, providing resourceful information on any given topic. Suggestions for related websites can also support and strengthen a blog. I feel anything can make for a good vanity blog. Since it can contain any kind of information of interest to the creator, there is no right or wrong vanity blog. There is more lenience and tolerance given to vanity blogs.

The research material I found did support my original thesis. One a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate my research a 5, it strongly supports my thesis. I do not wish to change my thesis.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Module 3

The news oriented ezine http://www.dailykos.com/ is political and focuses on presidential candidates, national, and local economic issues. It is accompainied with news polls, many photos, links for suggested articles or further reading, and allows for comments to be published by its devoted readers.

The news oriented blog http://www.blogcatalog.com/blogs/the-conservative-post.html covers the conservative perspective of the news and current events. It mainly discusses topics associated with politics. This blog is based on the Reagan Conservative principles. "Rugged individualism, freedom, small government, strong military, low tax burden, respect for life, and strong family values best describe these principles."

I felt both of the sites were professional, strictly adhering to the ultimate mission and goal at hand. However, I do feel the Daily Kos was more effective at conveying their message in the articles across. They wrote in depth news articles and touched on all perspectives of the news story, not discounting anyone's opinions or thoughts. The Conservative Post is just that, conservative. Their articles were one sided and did not allow any room for debate. I easily found the Daily Kos using the search engine on Google, The Conservative Post was a little more difficult to find, considering that I had to search for blogs within blogs to locate this site. I feel both sites are credible and trustworthy. Some may believe the Daily Kos is more credible because of their all around approach in writing their articles and going a step further in linking other sites to theirs for additional reading and information. I do feel that a printed newspaper or magazine is more credible than any blog or e-zine. Printed sources have been in existance for much longer, and though it may not have the wide availability as an online source would, readers remain loyal to its printed counterpart. Online sources can contain untrustworthy information or resources easily adopted from anyother site.

The research material I found did support my thesis. On a scale from 1 to 5, I rate this a 4- Somewhat supports my thesis. Therefore, I do not wish to change my original thesis.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Module 2

1.) Successful entrepreneur blogger Wil Schroter discloses the tricks of the trade through his blog. He covers all aspects of aspiring entrepreneurs, including funding, customers, employees, and balancing a family life. He also wrote a book called "Go Big or Go Home" emphasizing the strategies of creating your own company.
http://www.gobignetwork.com/wil/

The following website explains how blogs can be a very usefull and successful online promotional strategy. Money is saved because you are able to reach vast amounts of people through the internet, for much less then you would spend for advertising and promotions. Blogging is a great medium that does not requier any professional assistance if you do it yourself.
http://www.harmonyhollow.net/webmaster-resources/blogging-rss/11728.php

The following website emphasizes the diverse opportunities available for bloggers to make money from blogging. It is advised that bloggers need to spread their interests across multiple revenue streams. Included are numerous methods for bloggers to earn an income through their blogs.
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/12/06/how-bloggers-make-money-from-blogs/


2.) Other possible options an entreprneur has to market themselves is self-promotion to their audience, such as advertising in area with high traffic of people. The negative aspect of this route is it becomes expensive and it will not reach a wide array of people as would the internet. Blogs are available all over the internet and can reach thousands of people across the world. It is much more inexpensive and would reach a lot more people than just advertising on the street. There are also opportunities to partner up with other blogs to combine their resources and make for a better profit. Blogs are available at all times and have a more powerful outreach to its audience. ? Blogs are an effective alternative because if someone is just starting out, and is trying to build their company from the ground up, they would want to minimize costs as much as they can. Blogging saves a lot of expenses, it is much easier to set up, and you cut out any need for numerous employees, if you can do it all yourself.


3.) The research material I found did support my thesis. On a scale of 1 to 5, this research rates a 5: it strongly supports my thesis.


4.) I do not wish to change my thesis.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Module 1

Hello, hello! My name is Monique and I am completing my second year at COC. I'm majoring in Communications and I plan to transfer in the Fall to UCLA (crossing fingers)... GO BRUINS! I'm 19yrs old -my birthday is in about 2wks *hint hint* hahaha. Let's see... I'm a gym addict, compulsive shopper, and a religious tabloid reader. But don't get it twisted! I'm dedicated to my studies and I'm aware of my priorities. This blog is for the sole purpose of my JOURN 100 Media and Society course, Winter 2008 intersession.

Ok... so let me get down to the nitty gritty...

From an article posted on the United States Department of Defense website, The Air Force Office of Scientific Research began funding blog research; understanding its potential to provide information analysis and warfighters with assistance in fighting the war on terrorism. Author William J. Sharp wrote, "within blogs, hyperlinks act like reference citations in research papers thereby allowing someone to discover the most important events bloggers are writing about...". He also noted that credibility is the amount of trust one has in an information source. Furthermore, Dr. Brian E. Ulicny quoted on the popularity of blog entries and its underestimated outreach, “Blog entries have a different structure... they are typically short and are about something external to the blog posting itself , such as a news event. It’s not uncommon for a blogger to simply state, ‘I can’t believe this happened,’ and then link to a news story.” If the United States government is beginning to realized the influence blogging has on the public, it has to be credible.
http://www.defenselink.mil/transformation/articles/2006-06/ta062906b.html

Blogs are very effective at reaching a wide audience, and connecting with people globally. It is readily available on the internet, for free, and at the disposal of its users. People from all over the world can read and comment on each other's blog and at the safety of keeping their opinions anonymous. It is also a great way to get in contact with people of similar interests, backgrounds, or issues. Health and science journalist, Christine Gorman, believes blogs play an important role of communication. Initially, her blog became an important medium for her to connect with people "interested in similar global health issues, explore new topics, and germinate story ideas for Time Magazine." Successful blogs may command hundreds or even thousands of readers; moreover, it can be even be linked to a major site and gain additional exposure.
http://influence.forumone.com/archives/122-Blogs-and-the-future-of-journalism.html

It is a much heated debate on whether blogging has influenced journalism. Robbin Hamman of the BBC responded on the question of blogging's validity to journalism. "I certainly don’t believe that journalism is something that can and should only be done by trained professionals.
I know journalists who blog and non-journalists who write and publish articles in newspapers and magazines. Trying to distinguish between who is a blogger and who is a journalist really isn’t very helpful or meaningful." Ironically, this debatable question and quote was posted on a blog website. Bloggers are essential in providing unbaised opinions, providing alternative, uncensored views to a distressed society.
http://www.martinstabe.com/blog/2006/12/08/is-blogging-a-valid-form-of-journalism/

With all of that said, I believe blogging has significantly impacted the print journalism industry. It is rapidly being overtaken by self-made journalists on internet blogging sites; gaining more popularity and influence over traditional news articles.