Blogcasting?

In case you live under a rock or in outer space maybe, technology has created these really cool easy-to-make internet radio shows called podcasts. Basically, any one with sound editing software and a microphone can create a podcast about whatever topics they want. Some people discuss Harry Potter; some people teach foreign languages; and some people give grammar lessons. Really, the sky's the limit when coming up with an idea for discussion.

So I wonder... how many of these podcasts are blogs? Is there anyone out there keeping a log in audio format? Are there people narrating their personal thoughts like a radio show soap opera?

LiveJournal, another blogging website, provides an option for its users to record their posts. Simply call a telephone number on any line, and you can talk for as long as you like. A recording of your monologue will then appear in your journal for any followers to listen to. LiveJournal is more of a social networking site, where people treat their blogs as diaries and make friends through the internet, but if they've thought about audio posts, someone else must have too... right?

I've yet to come across such a blogcast. Perhaps my next post will be in MP3 format!

Blog about anything!

While contemplating the possibilities for today's post, I wandered through blogs online. I googled "cool blogs" and was linked to one blogger's top 10 humor blogs. It occurred to me that you really can blog about anything, when I found this gem: The Clothes that Got Me Laid.

Though updated infrequently, the blogger "betoma" writes a Sex and the City like column about her fashion and dating life. I'm not sure if it's complete satire - though her comment on the pull-out method of birth controls being effective makes me wish desperately that it is - but it's an easy read. It's smart funny, something I don't always see these days. I'll share with you this particular commentary on dating:

“Why is it the man’s job to make the first move? If the woman is interested, shouldn’t she be liberated enough to pursue her desires? Shouldn’t men and women share the burden of risking rejection?” I say no. I say that, all other things being equal, it’s the man’s job, for the following reasons:

(1) Being seduced makes the woman feel sexy and desirable

(2) She already acted kind of forward by inviting you over to her house; the ball’s in your court, dude

(3) It’s less confusing when there’s a protocol

(4) Because, ummmmmm… it just is. I dunno why. It’s a manly skill, like changing the oil in a car, or pounding a nail into a board or something.

I'm not saying this girl is a brilliant philosopher, who ever she is, but she certainly that you can make a blog out of any topic. And I'm sure that if what you're really passionate about is dental care, there's a blog out there for you. And if there isn't, maybe all of the other tooth enthusiasts will follow a blog you write about proper oral hygiene. You could be the JK Rowling of oral health literature.

Do's and Don'ts!

Cyberstalking is a very serious issue, meaning that it's not a form of assault to be taken lightly. Your blog could be an instrumental tool in someone finding you out there in the real world - and it could be someone you don't want finding you.

Here is a list of blogging "dos" and "don'ts" meant to help keep bloggers safe. The list is compiled by Sharon Housely, the managing marketer of FeedForAll (an RSS feed software). She reminds all blog authors that they should have aliases, to be careful of personal content, and to avoid posting pictures. She doesn't want bloggers to disclose where they will be (at Comic-Con this weekend in LA, for example). And she wants us to keep in mind that there are readers who don't show themselves on our blogs. (Hello, all of you lurkers! How you doin'?)

What I do right: I've created an alias to post under. Well, Woody is my real live nickname, but it could be a lot of people's nickname. I've refrained from sharing too many personal details about myself. Only a few of my likes and dislikes in pop culture have made it to my "about me", and other than the school I attend, there isn't much else that would indicate where I am in the world.

What I do wrong: I posted a picture of myself. Oops. The picture might not be the most detailing photo, though; my giants sunglasses and Minnie Mouse ears sort of detract from revealing who I really am. And of course, I also revealed my school. I feel, however, that "UMaine" is ambigious enough of an area that no one would be able to come to my school and track me down. But, maybe I'm wrong. Please, no one try this!!

Plain and simple, our bloggers need to remember to blog smart. We know what's appropriate for the Internet and what isn't, and we need to remember that age does not make us immune to such dangers as being kidnapped by someone following our online activity. And being female? Makes me totally more likely to be a victim. So be careful what you say about you and your community in your blogs. Maybe the key to staying safe is pretending you're still 13, and everyone is out to get you.

"Why

In this article in The Atlantic, Andrew Sullivan writes about why he blogs - literally taking us on a journey through time and over seas. He discusses the importance of blogging in the journalism world. There's little retroactive editing or retractions. It's quicker; it reaches a greater number of people. And it makes for more effective journalism.

We blog now—as news reaches us, as facts emerge. This is partly true for all journalism, which is, as its etymology suggests, daily writing, always subject to subsequent revision. And a good columnist will adjust position and judgment and even political loyalty over time, depending on events. But a blog is not so much daily writing as hourly writing. And with that level of timeliness, the provisionality of every word is even more pressing—and the risk of error or the thrill of prescience that much greater.

As you can imagine, it also creates more competition in journalism. Blogging makes getting "scooped" that much easier. And because my entire class is using this blogging site for free, I know that "internet journalism" will likely be cheaper than print journalism. Several of my peers are getting four year degrees here at the University of Maine in journalism; I bet very few of them are preparing for a digital career.

It's a bitter thought, but if anyone can be read on the internet, why are my peers wasting their money on this technical education? How soon before blogs overtake newspapers completely? I guess the silver lining is that a lot more people will be able to work from home nowadays...