One of the greatest features of Web 2.0 is the blogosphere which is the collective term used to describe the social network and interconnection of internet blogs. A blog is a website that is generally maintained and operated by an individual. The blog operator places regular on the site for visitors. The entries could be commentary, event descriptions, or other types of material like graphics and video. Some blogs also allow visitors to post responses and a bloghood is a group of local blogs.
Types of Blogs
Blogging has become a favorite pastime for many web users. Blogs can differ in the type of content, so this alone can give us an indication of the vast number of blogs on the internet. However, there are only a few ways that content is written and delivered. Here is a list of those ways.
Personal Blogs – These types of blogs can actually have a sentimental value for the blogger as many bloggers take pride in their blogs even when they might be read by visitors. Personal blogs are often similar to a diary and can become a way for the person on life. Many book authors, for example, use blogging to help their idea development. “Microblogging” is a personal blog that is very detailed and attempts specific moments in time.
Corporate Blogs – Although most blogs are private they can also be used for business. Business blogs can be used internally to enhance the corporate culture or externally to enhance marketing strategies, as well as company’s public relations.
Question Blogs – With these types of blogs questions can be submitted to the blog through a submittal from, email, and other types of communication such as VOIP. Many Qlogs use RSS feeds, which must be subscribed to, as the means to convey the answers to submitted questions.
Media Blogs – There are several types of blogs that fall under this blog category. Vlogs are made up of videos, linklogs are composed of links, sketchblog contain sketch portfolios, and photoblogs are made up of photos. There are also tumblelogs which are composed of shorter posts or mixed media.
By Device - Another way to define a blog is the type of device that was used to compose it. Mobile phones or PDA, for example, can be used to compose a blog, in which case the blog would be called a moblog. EyeTap is a Wearable Wireless Webcam that can capture both video and voice recording of a person life and transmitted live to a logged on audience and is referred to as sousveillence.
By Genre – There are blogs that focus on a specific topic or subject matter such as travel blogs, political blogs, dreamlogs, project blogs, writer’s blogs, etc. Blogs can exist for practically any conceivable subject or topic.
The Blogosphere
All these different types of blogs is what makes up the blogosphere. What interesting to note is that many of these blogs become interconnected over time and usage and this very fact is a headlining feature of Web 2.0.
Usage can be broken down along three separate lines: education, government, and the public. A lot of colleges and universities now use Web 2.0 to get their students involved in social networking. These have manifested in such forms as: Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr. As the new generation is very adept at using the Internet and computers, they have truly taken to these websites and built up huge networks of friends and associates. When you consider that they can connect to people around the world, such networks could help in improving global understanding. Beyond that, the colleges are also using Web 2.0 to maintain contact with their students once they graduate, and with other alumni. Companies like iModules and Harris Connect have created online alumni communities to do just that. Still more institutions are creating virtual schools to allow people to take classes online when and where they want; among them is Moodle, which allows students to go online and ask questions on any subject.
In terms of government use, we can see how sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and so on have allowed people to connect with their elected officials faster and easier than ever before. People no longer have to write letters and wait and hope for a reply from their representative. Using a simple video camera, a person can record a message, post it on one of these sites, and get a huge response. Not only to other people see the message – and take action, but many elected officials now monitor these sites to gauge how their constituents feel about certain issues. Thus, these sites have become the next step in the evolution of representative government, and are as powerful as any letter writing campaign or Gallup pole ever was! We have to wonder, how will this continue to grow and change over time. People already use instant messaging sites like Yahoo, MSN and Skype to have video chats. The main reason for representative government is the fact that we all can’t go to Washington to participate in the process. If participation were as simple as going online and voting on an issue, would we all do it? Only time will tell.
Finally, there is the public process; specifically, Web 2.0 is used for public diplomacy. The government of Israel has set up a wide range of websites to allow for people to connect with each other and various government agencies. It is said that Israel is the first country to have its own blogs, both an official one and a political one! You can see it for yourself at Israelpolitik.org. In addition, the country has set up a YouTube channel, MySpace and Facebook pages, and a Twitter page. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handles the political blog, it recently started a video blog, and some press conferences are even done on Twitter. The questions and answers are later posted on their political blog. Other nations have followed suit, and now more and more citizens can connect with various agencies both in their country and in others.
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