I have had mostly positive experience with blogs for pretty much the past few years. I don’t have cable television and hardly even watch the free network shows. I get all my news and entertainment from internet based sites and providers. This has caused me to collide head on with the world that is blogging.
I am a consistent sports fan but the sport I follow most is Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Since these competitive events are never broadcasted in America I have to follow sources that provide me with the updates for the major tournaments (if I am not present when they occur). The two main websites I have been visiting for the last 2 years have allowed me to personally be involved with reading many blogs. Usually these are collaborated with video blogs in which interviews are linked on the page that discuss and involve the athletes of this amazing and beautiful martial art. This has also allowed me to follow actual people who I would have never met before in life due to their talented blogs about what events are being held and what are the likes and dislikes of the situations at hand.
My interest in blogs has always been simply reading them whether they are about groundbreaking films or other sports in general. I actually have never been involved in the creative process until taking this course. Reading many blogs has also resulted in many scrupulous lashings at certain bloggers which has made me ponder many times how I would have written something better or more truthful. There are many “trolls” out there who I have wanted to correct due to their unnecessary and overly saturated sarcastic tone so maybe this course will cause me to actually take action and voice my opinions now that I know the authentic process a bit more. A high quality blog should aim for the truth and not meander through windy roads of propaganda, in my opinion. There is enough garbage on the internet as it is so why add fuel to the flames?
The blogs that interest me most are ones that provide insightful information concerning interesting and productive topics in life. I read a travel blog a few months ago and it was amazing how the writer wrote about the ways to make travel cheaper, faster, and more efficient for certain destinations like Thailand and Brazil. The information was absolutely legit and vital to any person trying to save money from buying a travel book or magazine. It proves that web based information can lead to positive educational experiences if the writing falls into the right hands and vice versa. It also demonstrates that quality information should not have a price on it. Many companies base their product, such as books and magazines, on the premise that they have what you need. The truth is that people have what people need and this is always sources of knowledge which should be free, right? Human nature tends to want something in return, yet we all want information to make our lives easier don’t we?
I completely agree with you when you mention wanting to correct the sarcastic "trolls" who post blogs as a means to pass on their biased viewpoint. I think this is why I stayed away from reading blogs before this class. I usually thought of them as more of a biased diary than a realistic interpretation of news. Now that I am in this class, I see that there really are some insightful blogs. I suppose I should be more open-minded and think of blogging as a conversation and distribution of knowledge.
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My husband was wanting my son to get into Brazillian Juzitu. I had no idea it was competitive. I think it is great that you don't watch television. It is a bad habit to get into. I encourage my students to read the news rather than watch it by doing weekly current events.
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