How appropriate the first story we post on our site is about blogging. There are hundreds of people we could have talked to for opinions on blogs. We chose to speak with a hobby blogger, a serious blogger, and a sociologist. We didn't dive into all the issues surrounding blogs, and there are many. This story is more of an introduction to blogging.
"Who's Blogging Whom"
If there's something you want to say, you can say it to the world... through a blog.
That's right - a blog.
The number one new word of 2004 in Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
"Blog" - noun: a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies.
These interactive journals are the fastest growing method of spreading information and opinions on the internet.
Becky Bennetch/Blogger: "Who knew I had so many Bush supporters reading my site?"
Meet Becky - the face behind the now popular blog "Girl Meets World". She created it a couple years ago to keep in touch with family in the States.
Becky Bennetch/Blogger: "When I first started I only had my family and a few close friends. Now I get probably 200 to 300 hits a day."
People from all over the globe now join Becky's Saskatoon based blog to talk about politics, religion, life at university - whatever Becky feels like expressing.
Becky Bennetch/Blogger: "It's an interesting experience to see how it's evolved. I have my own little community of people that will read and comment. So we've built our own relationship just on how we've dialogued with each other over certain issues."
With an estimated 35 million blogs worldwide, it's tough to capture an audience.
So blogs are divided into search indexes: by country, region, or an unlimited number of topics, letting people with like minds and interests meet.
Blogs have quickly grown beyond personal diaries and into a real time, source of information.
Dr. Michael Mehta: "These people are reaching out, and tapping into I think an unsatisfied need where perhaps there are topics that are not just taboo, but complex and ethically challenging."
Doctor Michael Mehta, with the Sociology Department at the University of Saskatchewan, says blogging could create a more worldly society, tolerant of touchy issues. On the other hand, he says it could cause isolation.
Dr. Michael Mehta: "Instead of actually going out to a club or a cafe, and chatting with someone and getting to know them face to face, we prefer to do it in the safety of our offices over high speed internet connections. So, it's hard to say exactly what the long term social impact would be but I think it's worth studying and society needs to know of its existence."
Blogs allow freedom of speech. Users in Iran are said to be the fastest growing segment of the blogging community because they live in a repressive regime. But the freedom only goes so far. Some bloggers have lost their jobs over what they've said on the web.
Blogs are also a way to get the 'full story', changing the face of media.
For the first time, writers posted blogs in the U-S presidential election. It gave an immediate, personal, and detailed description of the day's events, with an opportunity for the reader to respond. It was a similar situation during 9-11.
Peter Scott/Internet Projects Manager - U of S: "We got newscasts of what was happening down in New York. We also had bloggers wandering around with their little camera's taking pictures and sending those pictures up to their blogs. To give a whole different perspective to what was happening. So you could watch the major news service and say 'oh okay, I see what's happening.' You could also go to the blogs and say 'ah, so that's happening too'."
Peter Scott - the Internet Projects Manager at the U of S - runs 30 blogs of his own.
It's turned from a hobby into a job, with companies advertising on some of his sites.
He says a blog can make anyone an author.
Peter Scott/Internet Projects Manager - U of S: "In two minutes you can sign up, have a blog, and be published."
It's become so easy, the number of bloggers continues to grow.
Dr. Michael Mehta: "Some people might say that we live now in a 'Blogosphere". A 'blogosphere' is the totality of communications that can exist in real time to allow people to communicate and to share their experiences."
A hobby that has Becky hooked.
Becky Bennetch/Blogger: "As a record you can go back and see your experience from months ago and see how things have changed, how your attitudes changed. It's neat. I've never been able to keep a written journal but with this, I can do this and stay consistent with it and it's a fun way to record my life's events."
Go to google, type in blog and in three easy steps you can set up your own. Whether it's about dump trucks, baby bellybuttons or music with social causes, the world is your audience, waiting to hear what you have to say. Jennifer Jellicoe CTV News Saskatoon.
Comments anyone? I'm sure those of you already living in a blogosphere have something to say...
