Since my blog was created purely for SWC 200, Writing for New Medial the Interplay of Text and Image, is not like any other blog. "New Media...Just Blog It," is not about my life, nor is about my interests, hobbies, what products I use, or what types of dogs I have. On the typical blog, one might find any of those random, but perhaps interesting facts (depending on the viewer's opinions of course). There is a general consensus surrounding what is a blog and what is not a blog, and before I continue this discussion of what is not a blog (or has questionable implications of being a blog), I must attempt to solidify what truly is a blog.
The definition of the term blog lies within its semantic meaning. According to Andrew Sullivan, the word blog is deducted from two words web and log. There are many different ways of conceptualizing the formation of the term "blog;" the idea can further be explored in my prior post entitled "The Origins of 'Blog.'" But, on a different note, Sullivan delves into what weblog means. After a much arduous discussion unfolds of the ancient significance of what a "log" was, a less archaic definition arises of what a blog is.
Here is a quick summation of Sullivan's article. A blog is entirely based on a quick, out-loud thinking, and writing in real-time. It is a diary that is meant to be shared with other people versus the standard definition of a diary (which is meant to be kept private). A blog is unedited, causal, and takes on an informal tone. Blogging, takes an individual's private life and makes it a public matter, on an individual's own will.
If you are interested in looking at Andrew Sullivan's article....http://www.theatlatnic.com/doc/200811/andrew-sullivan-why-i-blog
After reflecting on Sullivan's article, I decided to name my blog "New Media...Just Blog It." But, what I have just written is a mere contradiction. Blogging is not supposed to be well though out. Rather, it is supposed to be spontaneous and spur of the moment. So, even before I began writing this post I was already faced with the enormous obstacle of writing a blog, for the pure purpose of an assignment, and not on my own free will or free time. I will return to this idea in my next paragraph, which will be devoted to the concept of "academic blogging." But, the title of my blog tries to counteract the lack of free-writing on my blog. "Just Blog It," is reminiscent of Nike's campaign "Just Do It!" The entire concept of blogging revolves (or should revolve) around the "Just Do It!" mentality, and I hope to accomplish some of that in my blog on new media.
As I have said above, I am writing this blog for an academic purpose, so therefore does this post in its entirety constitute an academic blog? According to the SWC 200 syllabus, my professor Delia DeCourcy writes that an academic blog is comprised of my "weekly blog posts," which "will be a place where [I] will think about the readings, evaluate new media examples, and grapple with ideas of the class." There seems to be a tension between the two words, academic and blog, and I am not sure if they necessarily fit together; this is one dilemma that I will continue to explore throughout the course of the semester. I have also posted a visual demonstration of the dilemma of academic blogging under the post entitles "Academic + Blogging= Academic Blog?"
Since I an academic, blogging about academia, does that mean that "New Media...Just Blog It," is an academic blog?
You decide.
As I prepare to finish writing my very first post for "New Media...Just blog It," I wonder if I am supposed to edit and re-read my post, or am I supposed to walk away from my computer, satisfied with the writing that I have just produced? I wonder?
Actually, I did just re-read my post.
But, why? Because this is post for school?
I wonder?
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the thoughts you examined in this post, especially the part about academic blogging being a sort of oxymoron in your mind. I feel the same way and am struggling with it as I consider our next post. How informal can we be in these blogs without slipping too far from the Sweetland Writing Center's old media writing standards?
Looking back, I like your more visual post demonstrating the origin of the word "blog." It's much more interesting to think about it when you're just looking at the words rather than when you're reading an organized history of its evolution, though I guess knowing the history does help. Maybe this ties into what we were talking about in class with visual thinking, in which case your post very nicely supplements that portion of Andrew Sullivan's post.
I have one suggestion for this post, if you decide to go back and edit it (though that is counter-intuitive to blog writing). It would be great if you included a hyperlink to the previous post to which you refer, just so that it's easy to find in the future.
This is a nice self-reflection of what "academic blogging" means to you. You particularly focus here on the tension between the informal nature of blogging and the more rigid format of academia.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't think that the two are incompatible. While blogs tend to be more conversational, that shouldn't preclude you from making enlightening arguments about academic subjects. It's just usually more of a first impression.
Beyond that, I think this is a good start to your blogging experience. It sets a nice philosophical outline for whats to come. Check your grammar and spelling, though!
unicorns and rainbows,
Ian
Hey Alex,
ReplyDeleteI like the concept of your blog and the interesting question you raise about whether the work we do for this class is actually "blogging." We're using a "blog" and writing posts and sharing them and commenting them, but since it is a school assignment, is what we are doing really inherently a blog, or is it just a flog (fake blog, as im sure it would come to be called). I can see how blogs can be academic, where those interested in academia go and blog their rants and raves about boring academic stuff. But, I'd say that this forced blogging we are doing is more of a writing assignment than a natural blog. But hopefully by the end of the semester we feel like we are blogging, and not...writing.
Good job! Brett
Alex- You've chosen an interesting style and approach in this post. You conversational tone is welcoming and the way you incorporated a discussion of the reading is interesting. As for re-reading your blog post before submitting it--don't all serious bloggers do this? Out loud thinking that's called writing in real time doesn't mean the writing should be bad or grammatically incorrect. I think Sullivan would argue just the opposite. We owe our readership the best writing we can give them both in terms of quality of content and proofreading within the constraints of the genre.
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