The popularity of the Internet brought with it a fear that people would steal each other's work (remember Napster) and that the copyright rules set up for print would be violated. In the Blogging readings, I learn that in fact peer pressure among bloggers is more effective in establishing boundaries and conventions than any authority ever could.
It seems that weblogs are held to a very high standard in the quality of the writing, honesty and sincerity, attribution and style.
In Rebecca Blood's essay "Weblogs: A History and Perspective" she says that daily writing in your web log will make you a better writer and also help you to tune in to your own opinions - side effects she wasn't expecting.(http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html)
Being a better writer will get your blog noticed and linked to more often says Sebastien Paquet in his essay "Personal Knowledge Publishing and its uses in Research". Paquet says this is the equivalent of having your work cited in professional journals and academic writing. (http://radio.weblogs.com/0110772/stories/2002/10/03/personalKnowledgePublishingAndItsUsesInResearch.html)
These two writers and others in the readings say there are no shortcuts to becoming a better blogger by becoming more relevant and articulate, or to finding blogs that are relevant to you. I find this refreshing, because the ease of publishing one's thoughts suggests that it can happen without much thought. But through the peer enforcement of the rhetorical conventions of blogging, only truly signficant postings get noticed. And that's pretty much the way it is in "old media" publishing world.
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2 comments:
While "significant" blogs are more apt to be read, I still appreciate the ease of publishing opinions through blogging for so many more people that would unlikely get to voice their opinion, especially when considering how small a vein mass media is becoming. As you mentioned in class, more and more media outlets are falling under major media conglomerates and those are becoming fewer and fewer. So giving the ordinary Joe and opportunity to voice his opinin is what I think is so powerful about blogging. In addition, I believe because it's such a convenient way for people to write and reflect, that this can be a powerful tool to encourage more critical and better writing practices...great points Jessica.
I appreciate the additional research and reading you did on blogging practice. I agree with you that the conventions of the blogging community (and the expectations of readers) will do far more in enforcing these standards than any that could be imposed from the outside. You also make a nice distinction in the purposes to which people put their blogs, recognizing that they can be as valuable to writers as to readers.
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