BloggyBlog

I've been blogging for a while. For some reason it's kind of embarrassing. Or else we all just pretend it is. I have a MySpace, which I honestly hate, but basically use to keep in touch with 2 people. Of course I have Facebook but that's not like blogging-- that's just people looking at pictures of themselves.

I started a blog on Xanga last year while I was studying abroad, so that my friends could read about what I was doing. Now my Xanga is pretty silly. I just started a blog on Blogger about a week ago. I don't really like Blogger yet. I think it's all the html. It's hard to edit anything on your page. But blogging is fine. I do it assuming no one is going to read it, but I don't mind if they do. It's more like a log for myself because I always lose things in real life.

I think this section of the class will be interesting. Most people don't get to set up blogs in their classes, and I don't think it's usually considered a very academic thing to do. But I'm looking forward to learning about different types of blogs. It seems from past posts on here that most people never imagined a blog as more than an online diary, so learning about them will be interesting.

the blog in me ...?

by deducing from everyone else's posts today, i'm guessing we're to lay out our previous/personal blog experience. (i must have eaten something raunchy last night, hence my absence from class today)
i have a livejournal account, and have had it for a little over 2 years. call me a stalker, but i like being kept up to date on my friend's happenings and whatnot, so i figured i'd jump on the bandwagon and give it a try. i'm not a compulsive updated, but i type recent happenings when the mood strikes me, or when i'm bored at work. the same goes for facebook and myspace.. it's an addiction!

i never used to think of blogs as a professional tool, and honestly, part of me (allbeit a very small part) doesnt take any blog 100% seriously, mostly becuase of the teenage-fad stigma i have of them. i even hesitate to say the word "blog." ... it reminds me of a cross between blob and log..but this unit (as it's already doing) will show me that blogs are indeed usefull in other realms than the "lets keep everyone updated on my life" one that i'm so familiar with.

Blogging Experiences

As a current college student I have had a very good introduction to the world of blogging (not so much Corporate Blogging). Not only do I have my own personal blog on blogger.com, I use facebook on a daily basis (some days hourly!) and I like to look at different people's blogs.

When searching for blogs, I usually either just find random blogs to look at from to day to day or I continue to watch certain ones that have special meaning to me. One of my favorite blogs to look at is the blog about my cousin's 1 year old daughter who I have never had the chance to meet yet. I also get to search for blogs that have topics I find interesting.

Experience in Blogging

I have had no experience in blogging. I don't have a myspace account, I do have a facebook page but I rarely check it. I have had experience in virtual class room discussion boards in two technical writing classes. (PTW 245W and PTW 312)

My Blogging Self

I only have some experience with Facebook, because it has the most practical implications. Facebook is more of a directory and announcement board with recognizable limits and necessary isolation between different networks, and I don't really like it that much...But it is useful...sometimes.

I hate myspace. Myspace can be useful for say...musicians...but beyond that it really its pretty insipid. However, it does show something about common human psychology where the pointless and superficial collecting of friends seems to be a personal affirmation of one's confidence in themselves. But I don't see the point of linking myself to other people I don't know outside of the internet and whom I may never talk to on the internet and on the other hand, I see no point in linking myself to people I know outside of real life and don't communicate in other means than face to face conversation.

I'm aware of blogging, familiar with it, but not very involved until now.

Personal Blogging Experience

Blogging is becoming a staple in internet communication. Over the past few years I have had experience with blogs, social networks, and other Web 2.0 technologies. Below I will set out my experience.

Blogs
My blogging career started in my senior year in high school. I had experimented with HTML, CSS and Javascript which is the basis of blogging and blog design so I decided I would keep people updated with my life. It didn't have comments built in, so I had to get a third party comment software for users to be able to respond to my posts. After a while, and not gaining much readership I stopped.

I now maintain a personal technology weblog. This contains my everything from my Semester Abroad to Australia last semester to my various technology interests.

Social Networks
I began experimenting a couple years ago with a Google social networking software called Orkut. I then followed the trend with Facebook my sophomore year of college and MySpace my junior year. I believe that so far, even though that MySpace isn't too pretty it has the most potential to last. Facebook was elitist for a while, but now ended up being open to the public instead of being only open to college students.

Other Web 2.0 Technologies
I have been experimenting with Digg which is a social bookmarking community. It has really opened my eyes to things that I have never been involved in before.

blogs

The only experience that I have ever had with blogs are the blogs that are on myspace. Before taking this class I had thought that blogs were just online diaries and places for people to post little surveys and thoughts for fun. I once tried to blog on myspace but did something wrong and it never ended up being posted for some reason. Ever since that failed attempt I have sort of had a bad attitude toward blogs. Although I am not too familiar with blogs, I am a member of several social networking websites including myspace and facebook. Now that I have learned more about blogging I am begining to feel that blogs can be more than a toy for teenagers and actually be a valuable resource for businesses and professionals.

There's a first for everyone!

This is my first blog. Before PTW, I only knew of blogs being known as "Live Journals" and pretty much linked them to Diary's(and people droning on and on about their life - gossip and how horrible their life is). After reading the Blogging book in class, I have come to know that there are other uses for blogs - especially in the corporate world. I find it interesting how blogs are beginning to replace hardcopy newsletters, etc. What once used to be an unreachable dome of business is recently becoming a network of consumers and employees working together.
In the past I have been part of social networks such as MySpace, Facebook and XuQa. I'm interested in seeing how my blog-writing skills work out. The only concern I have is finding something to write about!

Previous Blog Experience

As a current college student I have had a very good introduction to the world of blogging (not so much Corporate Blogging). Not only do I have my own personal blog on blogger.com, I use facebook on a daily basis (some days hourly!) and I like to look at different people's blogs.

When searching for blogs, I usually either just find random blogs to look at from to day to day or I continue to watch certain ones that have special meaning to me. One of my favorite blogs to look at is the blog about my cousin's 1 year old daughter who I have never had the chance to meet yet. I also get to search for blogs that have topics I find interesting.

Personal experiences with blogging

I do not have too much personal experience with blogging. When I was a sophomore here at the University of Hartford, in the fall of 2004, I began as a professional and technical writing major. I took Foundations of Argument and we covered an entire section on blogs toward the end of the semester. We analyzed a blog and also posted some blog entries of our own. That is the only academic blogg experience I have had.

I do have a myspace and facebook account though. For both online sites, there are sections where people can post on your "wall" (in facebook) and post comments (on myspace) for everyone to see, unless your profile is private. Myspace also allows people to post comments about pictures people have uploaded onto their page. You can also write messages that only that person can read (one that is not available to the public). Similarly, facebook allows people to comment about the pictures an individual has posted as well. It also allows people to send private messages. I find both of these sites are very similar. I am not a facebook and/or myspace fanatic, but I think it is a great thing to be able to have something like this that will allow you to locate friends you have lost touch with for one reason or another, or keep up with your current friends.

Testing, Testing...

This is the first test post on the new blog for my course in Report Writing and Design.