Hello, my name is Will Hui and I'm a junior from Livingston, New Jersey. I'm studying computer science because I'm interested in all things about computing. This summer I had an internship at VMware, where I worked on system-level networking. It was my first time in Silicon Valley (or CA for that matter), and I was quite impressed. The people working at VMware were extremely sharp, and CA weather is basically perfect (Ithaca weather simply cannot compare :P) Back at Cornell, I'm a member of ACSU and a consultant for CS 211 -- come visit for help if you're enrolled in the course! :) In my spare time, I enjoy activities like bowling, video games, and tennis (or any racket-based sport for that matter). My future plan is to obtain an MEng and eventually roll out a software startup. Kind of ambitious, but hopefully not out of reach!
An interesting development in modern computing has been the rise of blogging. Blogs provide a convenient medium for anyone to show the world what they write, bypassing the need for a publisher. Consequently, everyone writes. Each individual basically has their own "column" as it would be called if published in a magazine. This has led to a peculiar phenomenon: a lot of people maintain blogs focused entirely on their own lives. This would never happen in a traditional publication. If you picked up a magazine and saw a column that featured the author writing about the mundane details of their daily lives, it certainly would be odd. So why would it be different in a blog? There is reason to believe that few people, if any, would care to read up on day-to-day tidbids of someone else, particularly if it were a total stranger. Moreover, what drives the blog author to willingly give up a huge portion of his privacy? This information is shared not only among friends, but also the world at large. Are we just ignorant of the far-reaching consequences of "publishing" to this online space?
Blogs can be classified under the World Wide Web online space, because they are made available to others through normal web browsers. This online space is characterized as a huge library or magazine rack that is navigable through URL queries or text searches. Wallace notes that "the Web offers everyone vanity press services at very cheap rates," a feature that certainly plays a role in the blogging phenomenon described above.
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2 comments:
"a lot of people maintain blogs focused entirely on their own lives."
I found that line very interesting because I too blog and have many friends who do the same. For the most part, a good portion of people do blog about their daily lives, but I also find that some of my friends "glorify" themselves when they write. I have one friend in particular whose creative blog has caught the attention of hundreds among the blogging community. In order to protect his privacy, I will not say who he is or what cite he uses. What makes this particular case stand out is that before I met him, I knew about him at Cornell, through his blog. After meeting him, I realized that his blog is a twist on his daily activities. He does not lie about what goes on, but he does write in a way that fascinates and entertains those who read.
I realize the fascination that people have with reading about a total stranger's life can vary. Some live vicariously through this person who in fact may be lying to make his/her own life seem more interesting. Others like to read blogs to know that somewhere out there, someone is going through the same ordeal they are and that they are in fact, not alone. Still, there are those who like to read blogs because it's a new form of entertainment. Sometimes, fact is stranger (and much more entertaining) than fiction.
I think another interesting part to blogs is what people classify their blog as. For example, is it a diary, or is it a running commentary on life? I also wonder if a person's purpose for the blog also influences where it's set up online. Are most diary type blogs found on livejournal? If you want to find a political blog, do you go to blogger?
In terms of the readers, I also agree with Sophia that the popularity of this type of blogging is definitely a new form of entertainment. I think part of that, too, can be related to a sense of excitement you get when meeting new people. Since this can be done anonymously, does it also make it just a little bit more exciting to not have to reveal yourself?
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