Blog! Blog! or Tweet! Tweet! ????

Blogging

Blogging has changed the world and will continue to do so. Blogging allows information to be posted, whether anonymously or with proper authorship, with far more freedom than other sources of media. Rather than having to be filtered through certain lenses, or appealing to certain types of people, blogs allow people to write whatever they like. Rather than having some sort of bias through a media source, they show a more personal perspective. As well, it is a free source. Blogs have the potential to help businesses, music groups, celebrities, etc. to share information. Blogs also allow creativity, through changing font color, size, pictures, videos, links, other means of formatting and even the ability to add HTML. Blogging allows any individual to become a source of information for the whole world wide web. It allows the ability to add certain labels and be searched for through search engines. It also allows individuals to save drafts, publish, and make changes they feel necessary. Some blogs even include spell checkers. The downfall to blogging is that all information may not be legitimate, and on the internet bloggers could even pose to be individuals they are not.


Blogger

Blogger from what I have saw so far is very useful, allowing comments, many formatting choices, the ability to add gadgets to a blog. Also the ability to follow other blogs, have followers, and to use a Google account is very useful. HTML editing allows nearly absolute freedom to the blogger. Blogging also allows posting by email or mobile phone. It allows a personal profile for each blogger or follower. It also allows the option to moderate comments which are posted.

Here are three examples of blogs on the internet (click titles for a link):

FAIL Blog




Fail Blog is essentially a blog full of videos and pictures of ridiculous, embarrassing events that no one would want to happen to them and are out of the ordinary. The video above gives an example of a fail, a car that is supposed to provide safety ends up causing an accident on a track. The blog is intended for laughs. It gives individuals the ability to upload their own "fails" as well as the ability to rate "fails" and add them to their favorites under a Cheezburger account. Also featured is the ability to subscribe for "fails" by email, or RSS feed, search fails, find a random fail, or look at fails in the hall of fame.

Lifehacker

Lifehacker is mainly a technology blog. A variety of bloggers write articles on Lifehacker concerning various tips and tricks for computers or just time-saving ideas in general. Blogs are either general or can fall into the category of mac, windows or linux. Additionally, viewers can share information with the editors of the site. All posts include tags which makes it easy to search for and find posts that appeal to different needs and items. All posts can be commented on and rated as a post that you found useful. Posts can be tweeted, shared on facebook, emailed, or submitted to digg. Also, updates can be sent through email. The site is very useful for individuals looking for ways to make something work better, just interested in the latest technology, or for those that have information of their own to share.

Dummie Funnies

Dummie Funnies is hosted on blogspot. It is a political satire/comedy blog. The blog is run anonymously by an individual who calls themself "PJ-Comix." The blogger mainly picks on democrats in the U.S. in their blog. In their posts, they explain some background on the post and their feelings on an issue. Then a scenario is played out between individuals in satire of an event or issue, where they explains what they feel is really occurring in politics. This blog is good for either those who are right-wing and follow American politics that want a laugh or see their perspective, or those who are more left-wing and might want to comment in the posts about their own views on the satire.

Twitter

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging site where individuals can post 140 character limited tweets. Though this may sound limiting, it allows concise updates to events that are occurring, little thoughts, and allows individuals to tweet a reply to another user. As well pictures can be shared through a partner site, Twitpic, and links can be posted and shortened through bit.ly. Twitter also allows individuals to follow other users or be followed by others to be updated on each others tweets. Additionally, users have the ability to change the background of their pages, install widgets to put updates on other sites, and create a live stream to view tweets with a certain tag. Users can also update twitter from other sites or text message. Applications also can be used, and individuals can preset tweets to send at certain times while they are away. Many celebrities use twitter to update fans of their activities, and companies also use it to advertise. The site is useful for finding information on a current event and was even used by individuals to send quick updates during the Haiti earthquake to let people know where help was needed. Posts can be private to only those approved of or public to the whole world.

Blog or Tweet?

Blogging and tweeting both seem to have disadvantages and advantages. Both can be useful for finding out information from a non-traditional source of media. The biggest difference of the two methods of communication is content. Twitter is more limited in content, but this is intentional so that people will write tweets that are to-the-point and concise. They can only contain text, but this allows links to other sites and other content. Twitter is easier to follow because it revolves around one site, and allows real-time updates on an unlimited amount of tags. Also, many different tweets from different individuals that are being followed can be updated real-time on one page. RSS feeds can update individuals on blogs, but twitter allows a central location for all tweets. Blogging is more complex, it is not concise and to-the-point as often. It appears to be more in-depth than twitter and better for those who want more content in their posts and descriptions of information they are seeking. Blogging allows more perspective in posts and more creativity. It seems blogging is intended to be a bit more formal than twitter, with editing, publishing, saving drafts and having so many formatting options. Twitter is more relaxed, and easier to just send a quick update. Both have their advantages and they can in fact tie together. Tweeting may be useful for updating followers when a blog has a new post, and someone who finds a person's blog or twitter interesting may want to check out to see the individual's more complex and thought out thoughts, or more concise updates or information. Whether an individual uses tweeting or blogging for sharing and receiving information depends on what type of information they are interested in.