Fun with Bloggers

Since the conception of the blog idea, lives have changed. Blogging has become a new phenomenon in this generation. All age groups, young and old have at least come into contact with a blog, at least once while they constantly surf through the internet. As technology reaches newer heights, more ideas are shared in the global ICT world. There are seemingly no limits to blogging save for a tactical virus attack that crashes your desktop or laptop to uselessness. By definition, a blog is basically a type of website, like a forum or a social bookmarking site. As such it is defined by the technical aspects and features surrounding around it, and not by the content published inside it. Before a blog is called a blog, it must have these factors and features: its content is published in a chronological fashion, content must be updated regularly, readers should have the possibility to leave comments, other blog authors can interact via trackbacks and pingbacks and finally, content is syndicated via RSS feeds. Minus these features, you have something else, and not a blog. Since blogs represent a social phenomenon, they are in constant advancement. The Internet itself is changing day by day and so is the new dimension of blogging where writers interacts and connects on a personal, social or professional level with their readers. By self-publishing, most bloggers use preset technology that allows them to post new information or a new thought to their already existing blog. Just with a few clicks on a mouse, anyone can own a blog. One of the most popular applications is Blogger, it is free, easy to set up, in fact in a matter of minutes anyone can set up and start posting their thoughts systematically. Due to its efficiency blogging is taking over the information world. However, certain blogs require a fee to set up and maintain. Besides the mainstream professional journalists who have a tendency to blog, thousands of blogs are being published by individual enthusiasts on thousands of ambiguous (and often boring) topics. For example; “How many blogs would a weblog blog if a weblog could blog blogs!” People blog about anything! Just like there is no limit to what the mind can think, there are no limits to people’s thoughts while blogging. On the other hand, blogs have become a major marketing tool, they are a platform on which personal businesses are expanded, and have also become job seeking arenas. Because ‘readers feel like they can reach out to the writer of a blog,’ bloggers have been able to touch them in a way that newsletters, newspapers, the radio and television have failed. Blog readers are of course interested in interacting personally with a writer because they identify with them through the articles they read or pictures they view. However, it’s important for bloggers to maintain a certain level of privacy while blogging. The fact that there are stalkers and dangerous people out there does not mean that a blog is the safest place to open up. By focusing on a given topic and interacting through comments, abuse can be limited while blogging. Besides that, blogging is the best place a blogger can ever be! glo.irie@gmail.com