The Language of Blogs
I read over a lot of blogs each week, casually surfing one or two of the blog exchanges I belong. I realized yesterday that I seldom read the whole entry unless it's very short. Many are quite uncomfortable to read, some downright excruciating, in terms of their grammatical skills, spelling, and style. Because it is such an immediate and off-the-cuff personal expression, do the standard language rules apply? The conversational nature of a blog leads naturally to an informal, casual approach that can be refreshing and innovative, indirectly echoing some of the great writers of the past who used dialect and local expressions to vitalize their work. It is unfortunate that so many who write don't understand basic language rules so cannot effectively break them. When it takes major time and effort to understand what on earth the writer is trying to say, rather than being able to appreciate the content and point of view being expressed, it becomes merely an exercise in frustration. The beauty, and ultimate value of blogging, is that communication is direct, individual, and uncensored. No editor with an eye on public opinion or potential legal consequences is cutting out whole paragraphs in fear they will offend. There is no filter applied by conservative management or the need for committee consensus prior to publication. However, those of us who publish our thoughts and opinions to the world do have one big responsibility: to our readers. We can, happily, say anything we want but need to clearly communicate our point of view. Anything less demeans the value of this wonderful new medium and leads to millions of electronic pages that fail to unite us in community, as is our goal, but merely consumes virtual space like the incoherent ramblings of a lonely psychotic. Virginia Bola is a licensed clinical psychologist with deep interests in Social Psychology and politics. She has performed therapeutic services for more than 20 years and has studied the effects of cultural forces and employment on the individual. The author of an interactive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at http://drvirginiabola.blogspot.com
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Blogging on Ecademy Will Boost Your Web Site
For many people blogging is the way in which they are able to update their web site with new information and fresh content. As such, blogs are a great way of gaining returning visitors to your web site.
Shared RSS - Syndication for the Rest of Us
RSS Syndication or RSS Newsfeeds (RSS Feeds for short) all refer to the same thing. There are two parts to the process, the publisher, and the consumer. The publisher produces a small text file in a special format that lists the title and address of an article or resource published on the World Wide Web. The consumer uses a program, usually called an aggregator to read and display the contents of that simple text file, with links to the web page. Or the consumer may visit a website that includes an aggregator program, and view the results as a web page. Members of Yahoo.com, for example, can set their personal 'My Yahoo' pages to display the contents of any RSS feeds they select.
A Basic Introduction to Blogging
Web logging first appeared on the net in the mid-1990s. The term "web log" was initially coined refer to a server's log file and then expanded to include the meaning of online personal journaling. Later on, to avoid confusion, the word "blog" was adopted to refer to personal journaling. Today a blog is defined as an online publication where an author puts his or her personal thoughts and opinions from the most intimate to corporate ideas, concerns or events, in chronological order on the net.
Why I Use Bloglines as My Default RSS Reader
Choosing a decent RSS reader to browse and read your favourite RSS feeds was not a straight forward task. I tried and tested many different windows desktop readers but I ended up uninstalling them for one reason or another. Then I found Bloglines and I am pleased to say I have not yet been disappointed with it.
Blog and Ping: The Basics!
The buzz words on the internet at the moment are Blogging and Pinging and according to the internet guru's we should all be looking at these as the must have system to be attracting visitors to our site and consequentially making revenue.
Benefits to RSS
RSS streamlines communication between publishers and readers. Since RSS has had a popularity surge, webmasters have been experimenting and using RSS feeds to deliver content in new and innovative ways. Typically, RSS feeds contain news headlines and content summaries. The content summaries contain just enough information without overwhelming the reader with superfluous details. If the reader is interested and wants additional information they can click on the item in the feed, accessing the website which contains additional details. RSS readers aggregate multiple feeds, making it easy for individuals to quickly scan information contained within each feed. Feeds are generally themed, allowing users to opt-in to feeds that are of interest.
Im a Failed Blogger!
I've never been popular in my whole life. I think there must be something inside me that didn't get enough attention as a kid or something because I seem to find myself looking for it all the time. I think about some of the career paths I have walked down: I've been a musician, a pastor (who gets to get on a platform and talk to people ? getting attention ? even if I do have something selfless to say ? I like the feeling I get when I feel like people "get it" ? anybody else have this in common?), I've been a stand-up comedian (here, there's a real pressure to get people to like you because if they don't, they let you know fast). I even started "blogging" because a lot of great bloggers are out there and they seem to know how to type just the right things to get lots and lots of feedback. Heck, I figured I'd tried everything else, why not see if I get some feedback, too. And you know what I found out?
The Full Circle of RSS Marketing Power
RSS is a many-in-one marketing & publishing tool, although unfortunatelly most marketers still fail to understand this powerful concept.
Are Blog Meant for Raves and Rants?
Blogging is the latest internet craze and it may turn out to be just that and killed off if the avalanche of misinformation continues. One is amazed at how an excellent online medium is promoted for all the wrong reasons.
Introduction to Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
Really Simple Syndication is exactly what it's name states. A very simple way to syndicate your websites contents to other websites and news reading programs. This article describes the benefits of creating an RSS feed, and not how to produce one, or integrate other peoples RSS feeds in to your website.
Podcasting vs. Blogging
The US Navy blogs. Larry Kudlow of CNBC blogs. I'd say "everybody and their brother" except (1) it's a cliche and (2) it may be grammatically inaccurate. Dan Rather is only too aware that everybody blogs.
RSS ? Will It Really Become Mainstream?
I am not one to have New Year's resolutions, but I do plan ahead. As we reached the last quarter of 2004, I decided that 2005 would be, for me, the year of article writing and RSS.
How Can RSS Feeds Help Your Online Business?
So who should I use RSS Feeds? How can it help with my online business?
How Weblogs can Help Realtors
What is a weblog, well simply put a weblog is a journal that is kept online. In it's simplest form a weblog will have an article every day or week that says what the person is doing.
Bloggin for a Reason
For some it's just a fun thing to do, while some others feel they will soon be left out; they soon join the crowd. Everyone who uses the internet knows someone who has a blog. Now what do you find in a blog that you dont find anywhere else? Nothing? If you are a friend of the blogger you visit his blog probably because you want a sneak peek into whatz happenning in his life right? don't deny that? been there done that! oh, and if you are a blogger yourself you visit other blogs thinking that the other guy reciprocates.
RSS is a Life Raft, Saving Us from a Sea of Useless Information
One of the main problems with the Internet these days is the fact that there is so much information out there; it can be quite hard to find the particular knowledge that you're looking for. It can often feel like you're surfing waves of thick chocolate fudge sauce and your honeycomb board has a crack that's getting wider by the second. Over stimulus is the issue here; you wanted to read opinions from music enthusiasts about music, and every second blog article had to do with new punk hairdo trends and which band has the coolest tattoos. How can we find only the content we're looking for without getting bogged down in miscellaneous information that erodes both time and patience?
The answer is in context. There's now a way to sift through the cacophony of babble and wisdom to find exactly what you're looking for. Instead of having to join clubs and organizations and receive their newsletters via email at their convenience you can now have control over what you receive. Having to search through millions of blogs to find the few you like has now become an obsolete task. The new system is called an RSS Reader: 'Rich site summary' or 'really simple syndication' are the common definitions of this software. The process begins by signing up to receive automatic updates from blogs and other Web sites that distribute summaries of their latest postings to your reader. You then find which ones you like and delete the rest. You can keep adding new sites until you have literally hundreds of informative connections in your areas of specific interest.
Another great aspect of the RSS Reader program is the fact that you can put in key words of interest and the computer will surf the Web for you and add new blogs and web sites to your list, rating them according to the terms you have selected. You then scan over these and add the ones you feel are relevant, deleting the detritus. Eventually you will have an email-style formatted file where you can search through all your favourite writers, news, and topics' latest information. Then you also have functions such as 'comment' so you can automatically share your input with your fellow humans. Or, you can reply to the 'messages' and actually communicate with the producers of the ideas.
This will really help to decentralise the information sharing processes of the current top-down mass communication systems like the media. We can hear multiple opinions on an issue and give our own views, instead of being told one story that is heavily affected by the company's personal perspective of the situation.
So, you can see this has the potential for something quite big. Less time wasted, finding all the knowledge you're looking for, and sharing your opinion and meeting others similar to yourself has never been so easy. The RSS Reader is a knife cutting away all the useless packaging, revealing the true content of the gift of the Internet.
RSS and Blog Marketing for Real Estate
Earlier this month, Realtor Magazine announced that they would be featuring an article about Tampa Bay Realtor John Mudd and the success he has been having in attracting prospects and media attention with his blog on real estate.
Starting Your Own Blog
I was sitting in my local Internet Cafe yesterday, I like to get away from my 'home office' from time to time and it's a great place to go for a cup of Espresso and to meet interesting people. The rather attractive lady sitting next to me was typing away furiously and, when she had finished, I asked her what she was writing - I'm interested in learning how other people use the Internet... some people call that being nosey!
Why Every Artist Needs a Blog & How to Create an Artist Blog
As an artist, the key to selling more artwork is maximizing its exposure. The internet is an increasingly popular tool for promoting original art, and if done properly, can be quite profitable.
Marketing With Blogs and RSS - The Hot New Tools of 2005
In case you haven't heard, the net is buzzing with talk of
blogging and RSS. Once the province strictly of people who
got a kick out of publishing online diaries, and later of
political and social commentarists, blogs and RSS are being
adopted by the internet marketing community.
|
