The document provides an overview of blogging for beginners. It defines what a blog is, discusses why people blog and the major blogging platforms. It covers getting started with blogging, including choosing a focus, thinking about your audience and tools needed. The document also discusses ethics and legal issues like free speech, defamation, plagiarism, copyright and transparency. It encourages readers to find their niche and start blogging regularly.
2. Session Purpose My hope is that you will leave here with a better understanding of the blogosphereand a firmer grasp of the role of blogging in society today. I also hope you will leave here as someone who is more likely to regularly maintain a blog yourself.
5. Goals for this first session Answer the questions… What is a blog? Why do people blog? How do I get started? What tools do I need? Ethics and legal issues?
7. As a fashionable trend, blogging comes and goes… celebrities who used to have to write wholeparagraphsfor their blogs now “tweet” instead… as a literary form and as a body ofcontent, the blog is here to stay.
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11. What are blogs? A shortened form of the word “weblog” A genre with unique distinctive literary characteristics A large portion of the content available on the web
12. Blog Characteristics Usually individual author Mostly text, w/ some images Regular entries Reverse chronological order Relaxed syntax First person POV Personal details Interactive .
13. Example July 30, Dolly Sods – My wife and I took the Avalanche up the five-mile rutted-up dirt road to the top of Dolly Sods, WV today. We take her dad (now 75) up there most years to pick huckleberries. Beautiful landscape. Panoramic views. Thousands of wildflowers. But late frost this year made for a scrawny berry crop. Oh well… Still five quarts of last year’s berries in the freezer… Had a nice time listening to the sounds of the wilderness area and taking pics of the flowers. .
19. How big is the Blogosphere? Technorati (Aug. 21, 2009) said that about 185 million people world wide had started a blog (26+ million in the US) and that 77% of Internet users read blogs. Technorati stopped trying to count blogs a couple of years ago. At they time they were tracking 122 million blogs in 80 or so languages.
26. Complicated Motives for Blogging The four literary purposes tell us why someone writes. But why do they choose to write a blog? Answers include: citizen journalism, political activism, family relationships, personal or professional development, contribute to their field, promote their business, desire for attention, delusions of grandeur… I could go on.
34. …just write, really write, write right now, just do it, write more, write faster, right this minute, write often, write regularly, write impulsively, write like you mean it, Write!!!
42. What you need if you’re going to blog… You must have: ideas and commitment a keyboard a connection a platform You Probably Also Want: a digital camera a word processer with spell check photo editing software
60. Ethics and Legal Issues Free Speech (Protected Speech) Defamation (Libel & Slander) Invasion of Privacy Plagiarism, Copyright, & Fair Use Transparency & Conflict of Interest Honesty, Fairness, Playing Nice
61. Freedom of Speech Doesn’t Mean You Can Say Whatever the %^&* You Want… You can criticize the government. You can advocate unpopular ideas. You can be controversial. You cannot promote hate or incite to violence. You cannot lie about other people. You cannot publish obscenities. You cannot violate other people’s property rights (copyright). The government can regulate commercial speech. Your words are only protected when there is some public interest at stake.
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63. Defamation Libel or slander happens when you write or say something about someone and your statement harms their reputation (as opposed to just insulting them). Your statement has to be a statement of fact (not opinion). Saying that someone is a jerk isn’t defamation, but saying they’re a tax cheat is (unless it’s true). You could get sued.
64. Plagiarism, Copyright, & Fair Use Plagiarism – taking someone else’s ideas and pretending they’re your ideas Copyright - the set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work (Wikipedia) Fair Use – an author’s right to use a limited portion of someone else’s work to promote discussion, commentary, criticism, education or research
65. Invasion of Privacy When you disclose personal facts about someone that are not common knowledge, you invade their privacy. The courts are unsettled about the liability involved in this.
66. Transparency & Conflict of Interest Are you being paid for your words? Are you related to someone in the post? Did you eat for free at the restaurant you’re reviewing? Are you reviewing a product you got for free? Do you have some bias? (It’s okay to have a bias, if you disclose it.) New regs on bloggers…
75. Greg Cruey WV teacher. Blogger and journalist. BA (Psych) from Augusta State University in Augusta, Ga. Grad Dip (Linguistics) from the Australian National University MS (Adult & Technical Ed) from Marshall University Certification in Ed Leadership from Salem University gregcruey @ gmail.com gregcruey.blogspot.com gregcruey.edublogs.org Member IRA, ISTE, CEC, ASCD, ACLU, WVAFT Rabid University of Tennessee sports fan…
