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Blogging Teens

Sunday, October 25, 2009
Blogging TeensEvery day, blogs are created by people of all ages and from all walks of life, but when it comes to blogging, teen writers are truly on the cutting edge of the movement. Because today's teenagers are the first generation of people to have grown up using the internet at every stage of their development, many adolescents have a seemingly innate sense of how to use web technology to express their innermost thoughts and ideas.

Older writers often experience a kind of learning curve when they begin to blog, but many young people find that using a word processor and blogging software feels more natural and direct a mode of communication than writing in a diary ever could.

One of the reasons why blogs have undergone a kind of explosion in the teen community and are growing by leaps and bounds is the fact that they provide a unique
mixture of visibility and anonymity. A teenager can invite friends and peers to read his or her blog with a simple email, thereby winning attention or possibly even praise. Of course, with visibility usually comes the possibility of embarrassment, but the fact that it is possible to blog anonymously with an invented handle or nickname negates a lot of the potential for humiliation. Many a blogging teen lives in fear that a parent or guardian will discover his or her blog, but by publishing under an alias a teenager can spill his or her secrets without fear of being traced.

Outside the world of blogging, teen writers often have very limited opportunities to be published. Magazines and journals are often reticent to publish young writers
who may not have as much credibility as older writers with a lot of experience and extensive credits to their names. This can discourage adolescents from writing or
from seeking chances to publish their work. By blogging, young people can begin to gain a following of readers without first having to win the attention and support of an editor or publisher who may not be very interested in teenaged authors.

Between the fact that blogs provide young people with a chance to exercise their impressive technical aptitude,to gain visibility without compromising privacy, and to
build a readership for their writing without having to jump through the traditional hoops of the publishing industry, it is little wonder that are so many teenagers
with blogs. For some teenagers, blogging is even a very social endeavor that allows them to meet people with similar interests from all over the world. Many a blogging teen has discovered that having a weblog on the internet is a great way to explore self-expression and, often, to win positive feedback from new friends.

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What Is a Blogging Tory?

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
What Is a Blogging ToryThe term Blogging Tory refers to any one of the many authors affiliated with the conservative Canadian community known as The Blogging Tories. Today, there are over a hundred and fifty text-based blogs associated with the group, and there are new Blogging Tories every day. The Tories stand as an inspiring example of a successful online community where the ever-increasing numbers of affiliated members enjoy a fertile environment for discussion and debate about the ideas that shape the face of Canada.


The majority of Tory bloggers do make political events and topics the focus of their blogs, but not all of the content that a Blogging Tory creates and publishes is overtly related to the movements of the Canadian parliament or the prime minister. Although the community members were brought together by a shared conservative viewpoint, the fact that not all of the postings on all of the member's blogs focus on political topics is one of the most exciting things about the Blogging Tories. On any given day, the main website'sblogroll may feature postings about Olympic medalists, a James Bond film festival in Quebec, or a comical personal experience with a telemarketer. The idea that having a political affiliation in common makes it possible to have a fruitful discussion about other kinds of topics has interesting implications for how online communities are established and how they grow.
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The Controversy Around Corporate Blogging

The Controversy Around Corporate BloggingCorporate blogging is a relatively new idea, and the jury is still out on whether it will succeed. This controversial marketing tool may be the beginning of a new kind of advertising strategy, or it may fizzle out in a matter of months. Many companies are looking for ways to capitalize on the blogging trend, and many of these corporations have determined that a great way to ride the blogging wave is to keep a blog on their corporate website. These blogs are often created to appeal to the demographic that the company needs to court, and the content may have quite a lot to do with the activities of the corporation, or it may have very little to do with the company itself. Often, a corporate blog will focus on the kinds of content likely to attract the desired surfers, even if that content is not related to the product or service that the company provides.

Some bloggers feel that corporate blogging is a kind of validation for the blogging movement, and shows that this exciting new medium has really infiltrated the mainstream. Other bloggers consider the kind of viral marketing that corporate blogs practice to be unethical or istasteful. In any case, watching the evolution of corporate blogs and whether they survive and proliferate or fail and disappear promises to provide some interesting insight into today's consumers.
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Photo Blogging May be the Pinnacle of Modern Technology

Photo Blogging May be the Pinnacle of Modern TechnologyMany people feel that photo blogging is the most exciting kind of blogging that exists. Building and maintaining a photo blog is no more difficult than creating and updating a text-based blog, and many people feel that the internet's high speed, full-color technology reaches the pinnacle of its appeal with the transmission of images. Posting photographs in a blog format on a daily, weekly, or occasional basis is a great way to express yourself while reaching viewers in an emotionally charged and aesthetically engaging way, and surfing photo blogs can help you to get a whole new perspective on the world in which we live.

Many people who run image blogs are photographers by trade, but photo blogging is also very popular among hobbyists and amateur shutterbugs. To be certain, a lot of the most popular photo blogs have gained attention because the pictures on them are of the highest artistic caliber, and a lot of the people who run these striking blogs are graduates of prestigious art schools and have impressive professional portfolios. However, some of the most well known and most often visited photo blogs are as notable for their concepts as for the pictures themselves. Certain photo blogs, like the popular "Cute Overload" which features picture after picture of adorable animals, are more about the thematic content of the pictures than they are about the style in which the snapshots are taken.

The fact that photo blogs range from forums to display the work of highly skilled artisans to playful collections of curiosities shows that photo blogging is a truly diverse form. The fact that photo blogs are so easy to build and to update makes this kind of visual communication very democratic, and enables people at all skill levels to become a part of the global conversation about the nature and value of photography today.

Whether you are an artist or hobbyist who wants to create a photo blog, or whether you are just somebody who enjoys learning about new places and things, spending some time looking at the most popular photography blogs on the internet can be a very rewarding endeavor. You can travel to another place or another time by seeing pictures of faraway locations and long-gone eras. You can see your own neighborhood with fresh eyes by discover how local artists have photographed the town or city in which you live. Photo blogging allows people to communicate all of these things and more, which makes it a very exciting part of the modern blogosphere. If the best thing about web technology is that it allows people to reach each other in a very personal way from across great distances, then in many ways photo blogs are the most successful kind of web sites.

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