Research on Blogs

Research on Blogs

What is a Blog?
website that allows users to reflect, share opinions, and discuss various topics in the form of an online journal while readers may comment on posts.


How blogs are different to normal sites?
Blogs are usually about a single person and there experiences.


This website gives moreinfomation on what a blog is: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/02/05/what-is-a-blog/


Why people write blogs?
People write blogs as a way to express themselves and their knowledge or expertise. People read blogs as a source of information or because they find the writer interesting or share specific views with the writer.


What are the differences between blogs and normal websites?


I visited http://art.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1124239 to discover what are the differences are between blogs and normal websites.


Advantages and Disadvantages of a Blog

Here are some of the advantages of Blogging

• It is a way in which you can open up about what is on your mind.
• It is easy to post new information and share this with other people without having to send it more than once.

Here are some disadvantages of blogging

• Most people who have a large amount of time to write a blog tend not to have alot of interesting and compelling things to say.
• They take up alot of time if you want to make a good and interesting blogg.

There are some more advantages and disadvantages of bloggs on ://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2004/nt_2004_08_23_blogging.htm  



Find three interesting stories about blogs and find out how it has changed peoples lives

Here are some stories that i have researched showing blogs and how they have changed peoples lives :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6386613.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4278241.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4099120.stm

How are comments useful on a Blog?
Comments posted on someones blog can help the blogger in many ways. One way is that these comments are advice or answers to questions that a blogger has posted. These comments will help solve the bloggers problem or suggest ideas to them.

Microblogging!

Microblogs? 


Microblogging is a networking service that allows mobile users and other Internet connected devices to stay informed of activities within a group by receiving frequent published updates, usually around 140 characters or less. Text messages are uploaded to a microblogging service such as Twitter, Jaiku and others, then distributed to group members. All parties subscribed in the targeted group are instantly notified of the microblog, enabling groups to keep tabs on one another’s activities in real time. 






Twitter


'Twitter offers a way for individuals to provide more detailed status updates to their friends, family and contacts. And, crucially, it delivers those updates across a variety of different media - either through its website, over instant messaging or by SMS to your mobile phone.'- Guardian.com

Twitter has many tools which allow you to  'follow' receive and send 'tweets' and keep in touch with friends and celebrities across the world for free. 

The set up process is very easy. When you enter the twitter website a large sign up icon is situated in the left hand corner. It then asks for a series of personal information, and only takes a few minutes to set your Twitter account and be a member of the microblog. This is a big positive as people don't have a unlimited amount of time to complete long registration forms and they are also boring and put the user off.

'Tweeting' or text based messages are the main part of Twitter. The tweets contain up to 140 characters, as they where originally designed for use on phones and handheld devices. The 'following' feature allows you to subscribe or invite other people on twitter and then you can see their numerous peoples pages on your own Twitter account. This is a very useful feature as it means you can track your friends and celebrities in one place 

without having to go to search for them and waste time. 

As with any site there are advantages and disadvantages to it: A big advantage of twitter is that it has a simple and easy to navigate layout. This makes it very easy for people to use and enjoy Twitter without stress. It is also very easy to quickly post messages and comment on 'tweets'. This is essential as people especially celebrities are busy and Twitter allows them to do this on the go via a phone or a portable device. 

Another advantage to Twitter is its popularity. Twitter is the biggest microblog in the world. there is '190 million visitors monthly' Wikipedia. This is more than its competitors so that make Twitter the best in its class. The popularity also makes it easier to find new friends, and popular celebrities will use the best microblog and Twitter is that. 

There are some minor cons to Twitter. Twitter is a text based site and is very basic. This means that u cannot share photos, videos etc which you can do using a regular blog. Also tweets are limited to only 140 characters in length. This only allows you to write very little and sometimes this means that people cant express themselves properly which contradicts the whole idea of the site. So Twitter is not good if you intend to write large amounts. Also like blogs some people may find it effort to update their profile all the time, this may lead to the loss in your followers and prevent people staying in contact with each other.

There have been many controversial issues that have arisen on Twitter. Celebrities are usually at the heart of these issues and here are some examples in the news. 


England cricket star Kevin Pietersen was fined over a Twitter rant. See story 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/kevinpietersen/7974071/Kevin-Pietersen-facing-disciplinary-action-over-Twitter-outburst.html

Summary ICT Lesson

Today i updated and improved my blog. I changed the appearance and layout of my blog, i went to the dashboard, clicking on 'design' and then 'add gadget to add an interactive element to my blog.

I added a Newsfeed gadget to my blog which reports important news from arround the world. This will help keep me and other viewers of my blog informed of news in the world.

I also included a bloglist to my blog which i have added some people from the class and other IT blogs. This enables me to see their blogs without having to search for them and acts like a shortcut to save time.

I improved the design of my blog by altering the template, background and arrangement of the blog to my preference. This will make it easier for the user to navigate around the blog, it will also make the blog more exciting and interesting because i have used bright and clear colours.