Technical writing, structural editing, journalism practice and theory…and blogging? As a publishing and communication student, I was prepared to take classes focused on editing, writing, and even basic level designing, but creating and following blogs didn’t even cross my radar.
But why is that? Why, as a student of the 21st century, in a society dominated by Google, Facebook and Twitter, wouldn’t blogging be the first thing to come to mind? Why wouldn’t a $10,000-per-semester school recognise and represent this in their course structure? Perhaps the much-debated Melbourne Model, though loathed by arts students, has caught on to the need for ‘real life’ experiences in classroom setting education.
Then again, maybe the third highest grossing industry in Australian economy has found more ways to take our money.
I am a little embarrassed to admit that I am so far behind my peers, but I am, until now, a blogging virgin (minus 1 account: my letters from australia posted on my home school sports website here). However, I think a combination of things are at play here. To be brutally honest, the word ‘blog’ conjures up images of a pimple-faced, four-eyed, geeky (but not in a cute way) kid, sitting in the basement of his parents’ house, eating bbq chips, ogling pictures of Britney Spears, and commenting on his blog about the newest video game that he camped out for 2 days to buy for $200 and how he will one day rule the world and all the popular boys at school will be his minions.
That is of course not meant to offend anyone reading this, but as a psychology undergraduate major, my instinct is to use visuals to explain how each person’s individual experience and deep-seeded thoughts shape their view of the world around them. I find it hard to shake this stereotype of the ‘blogger’ despite considering myself smart enough to know it is grossly unfair. Just look here and here to see a testament to the wide variety of topics that can be blogged on. I still consider online dating in general a bit weird, and have not yet brought myself to see the value in reading celebrity ‘tweets,’ but I think this course will open my internet eyes to the blogging communities and possibilities.
As someone interested in future magazine publishing, I should be the first to jump on the digital publishing train. To think that one day I could make a career out of hours of web surfing, rather than cursing myself for time wasting.
Please don’t judge this blog based on this first post of self-centred verbal vomit. But I thought it would be unjust to expect you to be interested in this blog without giving you a bird’s eye view into my brain and background. So in a novice approach to blogging, I hope that I can interest, entertain, and engage you over the following semester (and beyond).
If not, leave a note J
I did one year of Psychology four years ago, and I can definately identify with the visual representation you've associated with blogging. it's not something I would have ever dreamed of doing before our class, and having read the subject description before our first class, I was surprised to hear that part of our assessment would infact be blogging.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a stereotypical image associated with 'the blogger', and that alot of people have not yet embraced or even shown an interest in the world of blogging. When discussing course content with my friends, and telling them I now had a blog, their immediate reaction was, "You're a geek!" I had to explain that no, I am not a geek, and I am now embracing a form of communication and media representation that could potentially be a major part of my career. As I endeavour to get into book publishing, I've realised that blogging, and sites like Twitter, are already being used as a major marketing tool. Blogging opens many gateways to individual opinions, preferences and styles. These blogs may influence other people in their own views and opinions, which may in turn influence consumer preference. Take Amazon, for instance. I have bought books based on recommendations from Amazon, and I now realise that my buying decision was influenced by other people's blogging, which basically keeps the entire Amazon concept alive. Conicidence? I think not. the creators of Amazon saw this niche market and have exploited it well.
Therefore, as one virgin blogger to another, I can see the potential that blogging has within a diverse array of commercial areas. I'm not saying that everyone will embrace or like it, but I know it has alot of potential, and I think Melbourne Uni is taking the right steps in charging us thousands of dollars to become literate in the blogging field.
You are definitely not alone in this. The truth of the matter is that I was so terrified to start this - that I’ve just not been able to do anything for 4 weeks. (Hence the flood of responses and other things! I generally move from great drought to great flood!). I knew this is all being assessed and that I have to do it as per course requirement. I really like the class and the discussions and readings. In fact I love all the classes and the mixture of industry-theory that they come with (Writing and Editing for the Digital Media, Structural Editing, Publishing and Globalization, Technical Writing and Editing). I was reading everything that everyone was posting and was making my notes and referencing and reading extensively. But all of this was in a neatly formatted Word document. I was just not able to make that transition to moving from my private musing to becoming visible and audible in the public domain. Not because I am insecure of afraid of my opinions or about my communication, or any such thing. It’s just that anxiety before trying something new! I couldn’t move from Word to Robohelp when I first started as a Technical Writer 5 years ago! And I was getting paid to do that. My boss actually took me for a cup of coffee and sort of psycho analyzed my phobias and then once I started - I couldn’t be stopped! HTMLs after HTMLs!
ReplyDeleteWhat I am most afraid of in this situation is really about being publicly ‘out there’. I have strict notions about private and public spaces! I don’t like one encroaching the other. Very territorial about that. I got on Facebook about 6 months ago and rarely ever check it. A friend created my account - after being disgusted at my procrastination and indifference to online virtual social networking and ‘keeping in touch’. My response was: 'I have a lot of good friends; I am in touch with all of them. There's a reason why I'm not in touch with the others. I'd rather not!'. The reason why I reluctantly decided to have a profile up, was because I was moving to Australia - I needed to be able to ‘network’ here and get on with practical things like - finding a house, flat mates, socializing, making new friends, maybe keeping in touch with other friends in various parts of the world, etc. I do check it once in a month (at least), add some friends, decline others, and do some random sprucing up and quick look at what others are upto. I’m still not at all inclined to using it. I couldn’t believe it when another friend told me that she was unable to study, because she was distracted by Facebook! So she asked me to change her password and not reveal it to her till the end of exams. I was stunned. Clearly, I’m a fossil. Ouch.
As an aside, a friend of a friend (who I barely know) sent me this email: “By the way I saw your searching for Georgette Heyer books in the net - not that I was prying but checked up what comes about this little girl in Oz Uni.” My response:“Yes, when I was looking for an out-of-print book, for my assignment, I accessed that site. Other than that, I don’t think I’m there anywhere on the internet. Thank god! ha ha.” His response: “I agree other than this out of print you looked for, you are not living in the net world. Could not believe that - but I do - one rara avis.” This is the reason why I am justified with all my apprehensions about being so publicly available online. Ok, I maybe paranoid. But, this guy could have easily accessed my pictures, opinions, people I network with, etc - all online. It’s very alarming to me. The risks of putting all your information out there. Lucky me, he’s not creepy or anything. Just curious and concerned about how I am doing here. But still. I feel like I am being tracked by Sherlock Holmes or something.
Then, I read this article about the strange phenomena that the relatively ‘older generation’, which to some would have seemed to resist all this technology and virtual social networking, seems to be lapping it up a lot more than the ‘younger generation’. This article discusses this well. http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/?p=192
Welcome to blogging Ciara. :)
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