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The
Buzz About Blogs
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by:
Sandra Stammberger
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The
“blogosphere” is continuing to grow at an amazing pace. In fact, the
number of published blogs is expected to double about every five
months.
Right now, there is a new blog published every second, according to
Technorati, the search engine that keeps track of Weblogs. In March
there were over 7 million blogs, that number is now over 14 million.
Weblogs have become the homepages of the 21st century and are used for
everything from sharing recipes, personal opinions and travel
adventures, to the latest in political and economic news.
Blogs are also facing their share of controversy and praise. Reporters
Without Borders recently published their “short list” of the seven best
blogs out of 60, which won the “Freedom Blog Awards” for defending
freedom of expression.
Winners (who are chosen by the public who vote for their favorite
blogs) included “Shared Pains” which describes life in Afghan, and
Mojtaba Saminejad, an Iranian whose blog is published in the Farsi
language. (He received a two-year prison sentence in 2005 because of
his blog). Another winner, Jeff Ooi, publishes the Malaysian blog
“Screenshots” which is in English. Because he allowed a comment on his
blog back in 2004 which reportedly “insulted Islam” according to
authorities, he was also threatened with imprisonment.
This award marks the first year for the event, but Reporters Without
Borders hopes to make it an annual one. The organization follows and
reports on freedom of the press around the world.
In oppressive countries, such as Iran (which shut down almost all
independent newspapers in 2000), blogs have provided a way for
journalists and others to express themselves and share the latest news
and happenings. But speaking up in such places often has serious
consequences, such as one blogger in Iraq who was jailed by authorities
after speaking up about what was simply a local problem.
China is another repressive area. Recently Chinese authorities declared
that all bloggers had to register their blogs with them, or risk being
shut down.
To help combat these and similar problems around the world,
organizations are being set up to provide global support among bloggers
for those who are being repressed.
One of the biggest controversies right now, is whether bloggers should
receive “journalistic” status. Some people see blogs and bloggers as a
kind of counterbalance to what they see as media arrogance, while
others call them vigilantes. Recent events with Newsweek, CBS News and
others have caused a division between the main stream media (MSM) and
bloggers who feel the “truth is out there” and they want it told.
One thing both bloggers and the mainstream media agree on, is that
things have been forever changed. The tools of mass media are no longer
the property of the press alone, they’re also freely available to the
people. What that means to us in the future, or what changes blogs will
bring about to the way we receive and act on the news we get, no one
really knows.
Not as controversial, blogs have also become a mainstream tool of large
and small businesses everywhere.
Blogging provides a simple and low-cost method for businesses to stay
in touch with their customers, get free publicity and build a business
brand.
As technology continues to evolve, and the number of blogs continues to
rise, it remains to be seen whether blogging will remain an effective
business and marketing tool. But one thing is for certain – blogs are
here to stay.
About the Author
Sandra Stammberger is the owner of Insider
Scripts. At Insider Script's programmers are working around the clock
to develop affordable, powerful money making scripts that will help you
drive traffic to your business. http://www.insider-scripts.com
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