Cyber Wellness - Blogs

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Chapter 4
Describe various issues of on-line diaries (Blogs or Web logs)

I believe many of you have your own online diary, even old people have one too how can you not own one? During the Silver Info-comm Day 2013 I have taught many senior citizen on how to use computer, one of the class is teaching on "How to Blog" I couldn't believe that senior citizen would blog too. Don't believe? Check out laozhaobor.blogspot.sg. If you still do not have a blog I guess after reading this post you would start creating one or this might be a guideline for you?

Terms Blogs or Web logs

A weblog, sometimes written as web log or Weblog, is a Website that consists of a series of entries arranged in reverse chronological order, often updated frequently with new information about particular topics. The information can be written by the site owner or contributed by users. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries.
A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. The weblog seems popular because the viewer knows that something changes every day, there is a personal point-of-view, and, on some sites, there is an opportunity to collaborate or respond with the Web site and its participants.

As an emerging tool, blogging uses have still not been completely explored. Some current uses:
  • Knowledge sharing and knowledge management
  • Customer service
  • Interactive journalism
  • Communication
  • Self-expression
  • Learning
  • Self-marketing
  • Campaigning/social reform
  • Community building
  • Experience tracking
  • Storytelling
Most common uses for blogging are personal. Emerging uses promise opportunities in corporations and education.

Benefits of blogging

Benefits of blogging are numerous that’s why it is growing so rapidly. An overriding benefit is the democratization of information. In classic models, knowledge flow was "stopped" and administered by news sources (paper, magazines, TV).
  • It encourages diversity of thought
  • Free flow – Any idea can be expressed and accessed by anyone.
  • Real time – Discussions and interactions happen immediately.
  • Multiple perspectives – One sided perspectives of newspapers are replaced by passionate debates exploring every side of an idea or concept.
  • Blogging allows people to communicate with people across barriers.
  • Blogs can be used in the education field to help students learn in a medium they are comfortable with. Some schools have embarked on blogging-based reading programs to help students learn better.
  • Personal growth - Some people consider blogging as a hobby, channeling their passion and hobby on writing. Blogging is something that you can start as long as you like to learn and share information.
  • Blogging is a very effective tool for popularizing business, networking etc. Blogs serve as channel to promote your brand and company.
Some people actually earn from blogging, currently xiaxue is the most famous blogger in south east asia and has receive much sponsorship from various company. I have seen some teens that wanted to be like her started blogging just because they want to earn free sponsorship and they ended up e-mailing retailer to sponsor them items instead of being approach, we should not beg for stuff like this! People will approach you if you are good, please do not don't beg because blogging should be a kind of hobby, you blog because you like it not because you want freebies.

Negative effects of blogging (so true!)

  • Blogging contributes to internet addiction, especially when bloggers spend significant part of their waking hours either updating their blogs or reading other people’s blogs.
  • Social/physical isolation - some bloggers communicate about their life experiences only through their blogs and in the process neglect interactions with others.
  • Offensive remarks can be propagated to generate hatred among the masses. (Anti-social / racist remarks)
    • October 2005, Two Singaporean bloggers were jailed for posting racist remarks online.
    • August 2005, Suspension of 5 junior college girls for posting offensive remarks about their teachers on their blogs.
  • Personal particulars of bloggers lead to internet crime. Criminals utilize the information published on the blogs to identify and assess potential victims for their future crimes.

Basic guidelines for bloggers

  • Never offer any personal information including your last name, contact information, home address, phone numbers, school's name, e-mail address, last names of friends or relatives, instant messaging names, age, or birth date.
  • Support a Culture of Collaboration and Contribution: The Read/Write Web is a place that welcomes participation. In industries where lots of people are online, blogging is the single best way to communicate and interact. Discussions shouldn’t just be unidirectional rather they should engage and invite a larger community to participate. Multiple authors on blogs and enabling comments, makes a massively connected peer-review process.
  • Blogs are meant for quick formulation and dissemination of ideas, not perfectly published prose. You don’t need to have a perfect article, just a topic to discuss. Still, be responsible. Use appropriate grammar and punctuation. Spell check.
  • Create a visible link to your blog's RSS feed (an XML format for sharing content among different Websites) and provide email subscription features to alert your readers when you’ve updated content.
  • Original content is what generates readership, at least for most bloggers. People come to your blog to hear something more – your perspective! Great content is the best publicity for your blog.
  • Don’t Say Anything You Don’t Want Others To Know. If something is on the Web, it’s discoverable. When you are adding to the dialogue on to the latest hot topic, remember to double-check and triple-check your post for tone, content, and civility. “Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in person.”
  • Blog is not a license for bad behavior.
  • Respect Legal Boundaries, especially Copyright. General legal principles that apply to the rest of the media world also apply to blogs. It is still important to attribute your source, when applicable, and be aware of laws that can affect you in the virtual world. The main legal liability issues in blogging include: fair use, defamation, intellectual property (copyright/trademark), trade secrets, right of publicity and publication of private facts.

Commonly used internet lingo

What are lingo? Lingo can be so-called "twit" which are acronyms. I have actually learned something new from here and they are funny. If you're new to chat rooms, instant messaging, or e-mail, the above acronyms may seem vaguely official or even intimidating. Relax. These acronyms simply mean laughing out loud (LOL), rolling on the floor laughing (ROTFL) etc. They're just a few examples of the everyday cyberspace shorthand.
Internet slang, Internet language, chat room shorthand, is slang that Internet users have coined and promulgated. Such terms typically originated with the purpose of saving keystrokes, and many people use the same abbreviations in text messages. They are also very commonly used in instant messaging. The terms often appear in lower case, with capitals reserved for emphasis

Examples:
afk - Away from keyboard
ZZZ - Sleeping, Bored, Tired
cu - See you
bfn -Bye for now brb Be right back
spamming - the act of sending unsolicited email,
blogging - using online "web logs", or blogs
googling - searching through the Google search engine
egosurfer - searching the internet for references of oneself
mouse potato - someone who spends a lot of time at the computer, in analogy to the term 'couch potato' for TV-addicts.
troll - someone who attempts to gain infamy in chat or on forums by use of controversial and usually irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community.
HTML - HyperText Markup Language, the coding language used to create hypertext documents for the World Wide Web.
trashers - someone who searches for information via whatever means needed... which would compromise the security of your site.
youtuber - a person who watches a lot of videos on the popular video sharing website YouTube.
ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is a technology for transmitting digital information at a high bandwidth on existing phone lines to homes and businesses.
Cable modem - Uses digital information transmitted over a cable television infrastructure.
Dial-up - Uses the voice spectrum of the telephone lines to transmit data.
1D10T (one-D-ten-tee) is a common variant. A highly popularized example of this is a user mistaking their CD-ROM tray for a cup-holder, or a user looking for the any key. However, any variety of stupidity or ignorance induced problems can be described ID10T errors.
Guru – A more experienced user
Newbie – A new user of the internet
MUD – Multiple User Dungeon. Each user can take up a computerized avatar. They can walk around, chat with other characters etc.
Shouting – Typing in all CAPS. It is equivalent to raising voice.
Snail mail – Conventional paper mail
ISP – Internet Service Provider
MOO – Multi user dimension Object Oriented. They are multimedia, interactive environments in virtual space.

Declaration: I mean no harm or infringement of copyright, am re-posting to share and create awareness on Cyber Wellness only.
Source: ITE Cyber Wellness Notes