Image from www.brandeis.eduJonathan Carroll once said "Just write about what bites you and damn the rest," somehow I don't think Carroll was talking about people telling us what their pets are up to on a daily basis in a blog; however, blogging has sparked some interesting websites, and is slowly integrating itself into the news media. Websites like Collider.com which is a blog on the film industry, are taking some forms of blogging to a level that rivals that of professional news. Blogs are a double-edged sword though, on the one hand if everyone is able to display their writing on a public platform there is a better chance of finding good content (a.k.a the long tail theory), although it takes a lot of wading through the not-so-great writing.
Blogging does embrace the long tail theory in the sense that if you open up to all types of content quality creations will find a following. Similar to what Youtube has done where people are getting millions of views on niche content made with webcams, blogging is useful for creating content that wouldn't make it's way to any mainstream media. This is where blogging appears to be the most useful, it provides a venue for someone to write about not just something like photography, but a certain kind of photography. The community aspect of the internet makes blogging work well in niche topics as well, people can connect, comment, and share media with others who share similar interests.
Opening up the canvas of a blank internet page to everyone has many downsides too, it can contribute to the spread of misinformation and loose facts. However, Journalism student Tyler Grant believes if you're not credible you won't get many views. "What it comes down to is fact-checking. If you don't check your facts you won't be credible. If you're not credible, people won't listen to you. Pretty simple." Some blogs are beginning to break through the barrier between legitimate opinions and information, and random ranting. Only the future will tell where blogging will fit in, whether that be spotlighting subjects with smaller followings, or in legitimate news media.
Dale, thanks for quoting what I said, but you misquoted my typing. Seeing as I need to comment on a few posts as part of my final blog post, I'm going to be the Editing Detective.
ReplyDeleteYou quote me as saying: "What it comes down to is fact-checking. If you don't check your facts you won't be credible. If you're not credible, people won't listen to you. Pretty simple."
But...
Here's the mistake: "If you don't check your facts you won't be credible."
In conditional sentences with "if" in the first part of the sentence, you need a comma before the second part.
So...
My sentence should read as follows: "If you don't check your facts, you won't be credible.
First of all, love the picture! Great stuff. Much like Tyler's Blog I agree with a lot of what you say. The Long Tail Theory comparison works well too!
ReplyDeleteGood insight into how blogging is both beneficial and not-so-beneficial. There was one sentence as I was reading through your article that jumped out at me, because it was awkward to read.
ReplyDelete"Blogging does embrace the long tail theory in the sense that if you open up to all types of content quality creations will find a following."
I think the problem here is that it's a run-on sentence; bottom line, it reads super awkward and should be revised to something more like
"Blogging embraces the long-tail theory in the sense that, if you open up to all kinds of content, quality creations will find a following."
Or something like that.