HW 19: Web of Influence & Metacommentary

I chose to discuss the paragraph regarding blogs' influence on U.S. politics. This topic has come up quite a bit in this class. "The top five political blogs together attract over half a million visitors per day." This fact shows the impact of blogs and how underestimated they are. "Jimmy Orr, the White House Internet director, recently characterized the "blogosphere"." The blogosphere is the all-encompassing term to describe the universe of weblogs. The blogosphere is taking politics to new heights and stretching boundaries daily. It truly is a web of influence and I am looking forward to a better future because of it.

HW 18: Wow

While reading the Jezebel blog, my eye was caught by the headline, "Alexys Tylor on the Importance of Penis Size, "Pussy Integrity":http://jezebel.com/gossip/clips/alexyss-tylor-on-the-importance-of-penis-size-pussy-integrity-308774.php?autoplay=true This is a video clip of Alexys Tylor, an Atlanta resident sex "expert". While she sits there with her mother, she uses repulsive language. With a penis prop in hand she talks of asking men to handle their genitals. This is worse than any rap lyrics I have ever heard. This is by far my least favorite post of the week. "They be fresh out of spearmint and damn juicy fruit....", the rest isn't classy enough for my blog.

HW 17B: Most Politically Influential Blogs

After reading both the interviews and checking out both blogs I would have to side with Zuniga on this one. Zuniga was very professional during the interview and proved himself as a risk taker, which is extremely admirable. Though I am not one for politics its not bright to be apathetic. Zuniga motivated me to be apart of the world and to make a difference even if it is small. Cox's interview was boring. She wasn't very proper which to some people can be comforting, but not for me. Her responses were either short one-liners or long rants that went nowhere. Zuniga wins in my book.

HW 17: The Science of Strippers' Tips

From the "Salon: Broadsheet" blog my eye was caught by "The science of stripper tips" by Carol Lloyd: http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2007/10/04/stripper_tips/index.html?source=rss&aim=broadsheet
In fact they celebrate the fact that, "A new study finds that strippers make more money when they're ovulating"(opening pp.) Geoffrey Miller, a psychologist at the University of New Mexico studies the breakthrough. He claims that observers could guess nearly 60 percent of the time whether a woman was ovulating based on her dress. I think it's hillarious that people actually study things as rediculous as this. Sure, women can be complicated...but why complicate more? Miller does have good points supported the fluctuation in wage. It's quite interesting and worth reading.

HW 16b: The Five Pillars

Robert Scoble is interviewed about the five pillars the made blogging so popular. He explains why really simple syndication is so important. RSS is defined as allowing a blogger to offer his Weblog for people to subscibe to, as well as to integrate links and news from other websites. The first pillar discussed is "ease of publishing": blogs need to be simple for people to navigate them properly. The second is "discoverability". How easy is it for people to find your blog? The third pillar is "cross-site conversations". Make the Weblog eclectic in that all people are comfortable to post and or change the topic. The fourth pillar is listed as "permalinking". This simplifies accessing a post. Finally the fifth pillar is "syndication" which allows you to check out a number of sites as you expand your network.

HW 14: Take An Obsession, Then Feed It!

While being interviewed Denton Explains that the formula is actually very simple: "Take an obsession -say, a gadget obsession-and feed it." (Kline & Burstein, pg. 151) Therefore the more you give the audience, the more then will want to read. He is asked whether or not he believes that blogs represent more of an evolution than a revolution. "Yeah, but sometimes it has the effect of a revolution."(Kline & Burstein, pg. 155) Furthermore it can destroy whole industries. After all, at some point, music compression and digital music files collaborated. As a result blogs will begin to transform the news business on a larger scale.

HW 13: Blogs Will Change Your Business

Blogging is an information revolution that can be so personal it could potentially get you fired from your job. Or at least that's the case for Mark Jen, a former Google employee, who started blogging about his first days on the job. In the blog he complained about the the less than generous health plan and how "Google's free food was an enticement for employees to work past dinner. (Kline & Burstein, pg. 225) Two weeks later Jen was fired. Google may have completely overreacted, but they were making a statement to other bloggers at the company.
Blogging has had a huge impact on businesses no matter what's being sold. Who could answer whether blogging and communication is more influential than blogging and business. And frankly, who really cares? Although this may seem of concern to only a small group of bloggers, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about their business at all.