A Look Back Towards The Future Of Blogs

Hey, it's a post written a year ago by same the guy who appeared recently on rebecca's pocket! I thought he looked familar!

What a difference a year can make when it comes to the "business of blogging". You have a choice between Door #1, Door #2, and Door #3.

Here's his thoughts on the future of blogs...from about two years ago. Shall I send him a link to our class?

Moblogging? Sweet! Where's My Headset?

Tonight, while reading rebecca's pocket I came across the word "moblogging" and thought to myself: God, what has blogging morphed into now? Needless to say, I looked up it on Wikipedia and found not only is this a great follow up to yesturday's post, but also touches upon my blogwork regarding the future of blogging.

Appartently, Adam Greenfield was the first to coin the term...and I believe it was this very post that is his claim to fame (although I could be very wrong). To be honest, I haven't done much research regarding the practice of moblogging in the "present-day blogosphere" (other than stumbling across the term in a post), but I did come across this site which provides some very interesting data outlining the history and progression of moblogging since 2002 (along with some other interesting information as well).

Frankly, I am incredibly overwhelmed by the whole idea of yet another category (I'm not even sure this is the right word) of blogs. When did blogs stop being just blogs? More importantly, who is shaping...better yet, in control of this medium?

This whole idea of moblogging (and class in general) has prompted me to question whether the future of blogging depends on the future of the technology, not just on the medium itself. I believe (others have mentioned this in class) that blogging, amung other things, represents an individual's intrinsic desire and need to be the master of his/her own technology.

In terms of how individual's are communicating throughout the world today, there is no question that the blogosphere is the new "frontier" (courtesy of Colin), but it's the technology associated with blogging that's leading the way...the actual bloggers are just along for the ride. Are both drastically impacting how we communicate today? Absolutely! However, it's important to remember that without this technology...well, (sniffle) Blogging On would cease to exist (tear).

Patheticut People

Ever since Connecticut has adopted the new cell phone law I've noticed an increase in the number of people wearing the "required" headsets outside of their vehicles so they can talk on their cell phones in public.

It's not enough that people decided to have "two-way" conversations in public (kind of reminds me of the days growing up when my brother and I used to play G.I. Joe in the backyard with cheap walkie-talkies from K-mart), but now, even individuals without two-way devices are finding it easier to make their private conversations public. Let's be honest, freeing up people's other hand (the one that used to hold the cell phone) has made things easier for people talking on cell-phones while driving. However, these same people have discovered it's also convienent while shopping in a mall, at checkout counters at a Stop & Shop, ordering food at McDonald's, and yes, even in public restrooms!

A common public cell phone conversation goes something like this: "Oh, my God! (1 second pause). Are you serious?" (2 second pause) He/she did not say/do that...no way! (4 second pause) So what are you gonna do? In all honesty, I'd rather hear the two-way conversations. Call me nosy, but at least this way you're able to get the full conversation. On second thought, if you called me nosy, not only are you probably one of these people I'm speaking of, but when you get a minute away from your cell phone you should probably take a moment to bite me! Let's be honest, if you're going to broadcast a conversation you might as well expect listeners other than those on the other end of the line.

To those of you constantly wearing your headset in public I say the following:

If you're male -- You look as though your belong in a boy-band (as a follow-up, click here to see which one). If you decided not to click on the link because you think this is a good thing, I really mean you belong in Menudo (and when I say Menudo, what I really mean to say is alongside Ricky Martin).

If you're female -- I know most of you may think you're a Diva. However, you just look like a Wendy's employee who forgot to take off your headset when you left for lunch...and left your post at the take out window.

Finally, to those who wear such a small headset that you can't even see it (I'm not letting you off the hook) -- Here's who you remind me of. Yes, that's right, you may think you're a genius for purchasing the "nearly invisible" sized headset, but you can't argue with the fact that you still look pretty crazy standing there talking to yourself with no visible evidence as to why this is occurring.

Wow…I must say, it felt pretty good to get that off my chest. In all honesty (a.k.a. putting my harsh words aside), it really comes down to this: Just be safe while driving and talking on your cell phone...but for the love of all that is Holy, keep your headset and your conversations in your car!

A Few Thoughts Before Work...And Class

I found this blog after reading a post by Brett (make sure you comment on his "new look" by the way). As Brett mentioned, the blog as a whole is very intriging and extremely relevent to what we're discussing in class this week. One of the main reasons: posts like this under the caption, "Why I Blog".

With such a large part of blogging relying on that which is personal, yet at the same time thriving on the idea of "community", the very question of why blog? is a very intriguing and complex idea in its own right. Ultimatley, I believe blogging simply represents an intrinsic human desire to understand __________ (fill in the blank).

Speaking of things that are relevant to this weeks discussion, check out this article.

I leave you this morning with this: As the blogosphere continues to shape identities and language among teens, is it really that hard to believe it's also having a huge impact on learning strategies and metacognitive development?

The Results Are In

Here are my strenths...and let me tell you, they're pretty much right on target! Since it will probably say, "round: invalid function call" when you link - I found this out through trial and error, it wasn't something I just knew a head of time...computer literacy is definitely not one of my strengths - I'll have to improvise:

Social (Interpersonal) = 4.71

Language (Linguistic) = 4

Nature (Naturalist) = 4

Self (Intrapersonal) = 4

Body Movement (Kinesthetic) = 4

Musical = 2.43

Spatial = 2.29

Logic/Math = 2.14

...not to brag, but I think I'm one well-rounded mo-fo!


Do you agree with your results?

Food For Your Thoughts...Research For My Paper

Don't ask me how I came across this blog...the only thing I know is that the search originated here.

Eventually, I came across some very interesting information in the post from November 10, 2005 titled, "Learning and the Internet: A New Study of Teen Blogging May Have Lessons for Academic Support Professionals".

If you don't have it already, this might be of some use to you...if you actually want to read what I'm linking to rather than simply click on some bold-faced words that is.

Are Blogs Shaping Our Intelligence?

Throughout my travels in Secondary English Education at the University of Hartford, I met a man named Howard Gardner. Famous for developing the theory of mulitple intellignces in 1983, Gardner's studies have prompted me to think more deeply about how the blogsophere is shaping the face of "intelligence". More specifically, those related to an individual's intrapersonal/interpersonal skills.

There is no question blogs/blogging are changing the way individual's communicate, but are they also manipulating our intelligence and how we learn? Now that's one big can of worms, but certianly one worth opening up...maybe even in my paper?

Let's take my childrens' (who have not yet been born, thank God...25 with kids...not so much) generation. Is the blogsophere going to play a role in how they learn and develpe metacognitively. I think so. However, will its impact be positive or negative?

Most often categorized as "extroverts", individuals with a strong interpersonal intelligence thrive on discussions and personal interactions to learn. One can argue that the blogosphere is a warehouse of discussions, but does it provide a venue for "personal interactions"? Ah, the question of the week!

Perhaps those extroverts who emerse themselves in the blogsophere will eventlually become "introverts" and pocess what Gardner has termed an "intrapersonal intelligence". However, one could argue that although, for many, blogging is most often a task done in solitude, it does attempt to break people out of their shells and allow them to open up in ways never possible with natural, face-to-face human discourse.

It really comes down to one question: will future generations eventually look at and communicate with monitors displaying the many faces of the blogosphere with a simialr prowess as when they look into the eyes of a human? In otherwords, will monitors and the human face become one in the same?

Definitly a big can of worms...I think I need to open this one up in a paper rather than a post.