First Week’s Extra Readings/Blogs

Cory Doctorow , Shelley Powers , J. Scott Johnson , Rael Dornfest , Benjamin Trott’s first chapter of Essential Blogging provides a great general definition and examples of blogs and blogging. They state their own blog could seem like a rambling of nonconsequential items, but it’s what they do to voice their opinions. In their view blogging is a purer form of journalism than traditional means, because it’s instant and timely in a way that a daily newspaper or weekly journal cannot be. The editors go into general guidelines for blogs including links and permissions. These editors of Essential Blogging share the same high regard to the powerful world of blogging as Gillmor maintains.

http://publishing2.com/

Scott Karp’s blog touched on everything media, from Wikipedia to YouTube. I thought his mini-rant on the removal of imbedded files was a funny way to chastise those who utilize the newly popular viral videos but delete the links shortly after . I think this is a blog I could see utilizing as a means to keep myself in the digital loop, however, several misspellings and wrong word choices took away from his overall esteem. I realize blogs are informal posts, but poor grammar can too easily distract an audience.

http://buzzmachine.com/

Jeff Jarvis’s blog was a bit confusing for me, particular the topic of “Davos07″. I attempted to go through the threads to receive more background about the topic, but proved unsuccessful. I have a feeling if I had been a regular guest I would easily enjoy his commentary on media matters. His blog is very conversational, more than most I have seen, so I could see why it would be a popular site. I found his “Disclosures” listed in his “About Me” section quite funny. I think it is a great way for his users to easily put his views into context and while also showing his sense of humor. Jarvis’s vast experience in journalism and his comfort with digital technologies is a great source for the blogging public. I also found the photo of an old printing press on his blog’s header quite ironic and interesting.

http://scripting.com/

Dave Winer’s blog similarly feeds interesting technological tid bits to users, but the site is not very intuitive. I could not find anything about Winer, and found the link with his name, which appeared to be a means to contact him, an odd way to link up to his personal website. However, his street cred is solid as he shows well-established sites that mention/link his blog. I did find items in “Things to revisit” quite interesting and to contain a myriad of topics from the techie to the pedestrian’s right of way.