Blogging

Although I may not be quite qualified to do so, as of late, I'm writing and article for the paper about blogging, and I'm looking for a little bit of help.

I'm writing this article with the idea that, by now, most college level students will already know what a blog is (although I'm quite sure I'll include some prefunctory descriptions and definitions), so I'm trying to write an article that is different than just the same old "You've heard the word on television... so what are these 'blog' things, anyway?" type of crap.

So, as kind of a case study, I'm asking some questions, and hopefully your answers will help me write an article that provides more of an understanding of the day to day process of blogging, and less about what blogs are.

Please leave your answers to the following questions in the comments for use in my article, and I'm sure I'll ask some of you follow-ups on a personal basis.  The more feedback I get, the better.  Thanks in advance, guys.

1. If you had to label your blog, what "type" of blog do you write?
2. How long have you been blogging?
3. What prompted you to start blogging?
4. What do you find satisfying about blogging?
5. Why do you look to blogs for information? Do you do so more or less than other more traditional entertainment or news sources?
6. What about blogs that you read make you want to read them?

Comments

[aldahlia]

1. If you had to label your blog, what "type" of blog do you write?

General "musings" kind of blog.

2. How long have you been blogging?

6 years (since June 2000.) (OMG.)

3. What prompted you to start blogging?

I worked at a call center and spent a third of my day bored and with an internet connection.

4. What do you find satisfying about blogging?

It lets me pretend I have a social life.

5. Why do you look to blogs for information? Do you do so more or less than other more traditional entertainment or news sources?

I look to blogs for a sort of nubulous concept of "community" and "dialouge." The information is just sort of a by-product.

6. What about blogs that you read make you want to read them?

If the person says something interesting. I don't like "link logs" or folks that blog mostly pictures. It's all about the words.

[linnea]

it is completely self indulgent for me. when i first started the point was that i travel so much that it was easier for me to leave notes - so to speak - than to have to send individual emails. it allows folks to check out photos or thoughts at their own pace and not when i decide to send them. at the same tie, i love it. now it is a chance for me to speak my mind to everyone or noone...and for folks to weigh in or ignore me.

i read them because people have different interests and love to see what my friends...or strangers find important or interesting. i love to see how other people's trains of thought direct themselves. i love to read comments and eavesdrop on conversations i might not otherwise be pirvy to.

[Johnomatopoeia]

1. I would label mine, although I don't necessarily like the thought of labels, as either 'general' or 'personal'. I talk a lot about family and kids, but there are other things I talk about as well.

2. I've been blogging since November 2004.

3. I started blogging to try and organize my thoughts and get my shit together after some difficult family issues.

4. The most satisfying part is that it keeps me writing when I otherwise might not make the time for it.

5. I look to blogs for information because the mainstream media is a parody of itself. I spend more time reading blogs by a factor of ten than I do to other media sources.

6. I read blogs for a variety of reasons, depending on the subject matter. I like political blogs for the information and insight, I like journal style blogs for the openness and vulnerability, I like philosophical blogs for different takes on the world in general, and I like creative writing blogs for the sheer beauty in the way that some people can put words together.

[Beth]

1. Mom plus other stuff
2. umm . . . year and a half? since sept 04
3. thought it might be easier to keep a journal about my kids if I did it online
4. chance to share everyday thoughts with likeminded & interesting people; participate in a conversation
5. I look to blogs for what they're good at--personal commentary & experience; also read blogs in which writing people have some kind of expertise or particular interest
6. good writing, interesting content, shared values, (sometimes) similar life situations

[Katze]

1. If you had to label your blog, what "type" of blog do you write?

A daily journal kind of blog. I write about what's happening in my everyday life.

2. How long have you been blogging?

Since August 2004, so just over a year and a half.

3. What prompted you to start blogging?

I have friends in several countries and spread over the US, and I was getting sick of typing the same story over and over in emails, so I started blogging.

4. What do you find satisfying about blogging?

Even though I *started* blogging to my friends, I quickly found that the blog became my way to vent my frustrations, as well as a creative outlet. It's really those things that have kept me blogging and made it satisfying for me.

5. Why do you look to blogs for information? Do you do so more or less than other more traditional entertainment or news sources?

I don't look to blogs for information. I look to blogs for entertainment and connection (what another poster called "community", I think).

6. What about blogs that you read make you want to read them?

Good writing. Things that make me laugh or think. A blog that feels like a good conversation with the reader. I like people who can write about the mundane in a way that makes it interesting or touching. I've found several online friends via blogs, and it's that feeling that if I met someone in real life, we'd get along, that will often make me read someone's blog regularly.