Week 6 - Twitter, is it really that bad?

Ever since I first heard of the internet, I've heard how spectacular it is and how it will forever change our lives. I still hear that talk, nearly 13 years later. Instead of the internet in general, it's the types of websites we visit and the way we visit those sites that is going to "forever change our lives." Twitter is one of those sites that has been accused of killing journalism, shortening our attention spans, and ruining our grammar. If it supposedly causes all those bad things, what is so great about it that keeps everyone hooked? Personally, I couldn't tell ya. I've also heard bad things about Facebook, but that doesn't keep me away from there. However, I think that Facebook has so much more to offer than Twitter does. Facebook is more interactive--it's like an online community. Twitter just has short updates of people talking about themselves. Who really cares? I admit I started following a few celebs on Twitter because it was kind of cool to see what they were doing when they weren't busy doing famous stuff (although I don't think it's cool to know what everyone, including my nonfamous friends, is doing at every second of the day). I started following Miley Cyrus, not because I'm a fan of her, but because I kept hearing about her controversial tweets. Now, her tweets fills up my entire homepage and I barely even read them anymore.

Going back to the bad parts of Twitter, one article mentioned that it was speculated that Twitter was killing off journalism. There would be no need for professional journalists anymore since everyone had a Twitter account. Why? Well, the article mentioned the idea of a man named Janis Krums who sent a photo and a tweet to his Twitter account about the Hudson river plane crash. The news is almost instant these days; reporters are on a scene in minutes to get a short story to add to their news website. Well, with people tweeting the news, is there really a need for journalism? Fortunately, Cmswire.com says there is. Cmswire.com noted that TechCrunch journalist Paul Carr said this: “While bloggers can own the first five minutes of any breaking story - a plane crash, a fire, a burglary - it’s always going to be the professional reporters who own the next five days, or five weeks.” Plus, you know, the journalists are the ones who are going to report the facts, and they're going to report them professionally.

As some might already know, our short attention spans (average seven minutes) can be linked to television. Now, it's been predicted that Twitter, along with MySpace and Facebook, might shorten our attention spans even more. Baroness Susan Greenfield is worried that "these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and live for the moment." Greenfield's proposition doesn't seem too far out there to me. As I'm writing this blog I have five tabs open, plus I am chatting on MSN. Is my multitasking helping me or harming me in the long run? Will my attention span drop significantly if I continue to use the internet in the manner that I do? I am not on one website for longer than a few minutes. What do you all think? Is this where sites like Twitter are leading us?

Week 5: Blogs

After years of on-and-off sometimes blogging and one year of serious blogging for school, I've decided that this week I will take a look at some ways to spice up my boring blogs. I also evaluated my strengths and weaknesses as a blogger and have found a couple articles that give blogging tips.

I notice some people add photos to their blogs. I usually don't. I don't really know why; I guess it's because sometimes photos just get in the way of my writing. By reading 101 blog tips, I've learned that adding digital elements isn't the only way to make a great blog. One advice, which is to use tags, is something I've just started doing this year. I think it's a great way of referencing my blog and also allowing others to better search for a specific topic. This list also tells me to ask questions to my readers, which is also something I've gotten more into while blogging this semester. Questions really get a conversation going. I also find it easier to comment on a person's blog who asks questions rather than just talks and writes statements. The list also tells me to return comments; I can do that by reading my blog comments daily, so I can promptly return comments to my commenters. The list of 101 blog tips has much more great advice that I plan to follow in the future not just with this blog but with other blogs I may write in the future. One of the other problems I have with blogging is trying to think of a good topic that relates to what we're talking about in class. Once I've thought of a topic, I have to think of good relevant things to write about in the blog. I ran into this article today, and it offered me some great advice. If anyone else has problems brainstorming for blogs, I suggest you check out this link. The best advice offered on the website was to always read articles, online and offline to come up with inspiration. I read the news online daily and I have a couple of subscriptions to magazines. Often times the articles I read make me form some sort of an opinion. Unfortunately, I usually don't write down the inspiration I had while reading or the name of the article, so when it comes time to start blogging, I completely forget what I was going to write about. That is why I think it's a great idea for me to blog when I feel inspiried. Like any artist or writer, a blogger should always look for inspirations and write them down.

Do you have any struggles when it comes to blogging? What do you do to work through those struggles?

Week 4: Email etiquette

I remember when I was quite a bit younger, I received a chain letter in the mail. I had no idea what it was and my mom had to explain it to me. It was the only chain letter I have ever received--until email. Now, I receive electronic chain letters constantly. Sending chain letters is against the rules of email etiquette. Most of them are fake, so sending them is apparently a sign of disrespect. I don't send them because I don't believe them and think most of them are stupid. However, some of the forwards I receive aren't necessarily asking for anything; rather, they are just stating jokes, funny stories or photos, or heartwarming stories, all of which could be fake, but I send them anyway. I have a folder in my email inbox dedicated to the collection of all the good forwards I've received. There are plenty of websites with an archive of chain letters where I can go to to read the ones I haven't received yet; this one seemed to be the most appealing to me. The website is described as a final resting place for over a thousand email forwards, funnies, hoaxes, jokes, surveys and more. Reading these is a good way to pass time or procrastinate on the web.

Using proper grammar and spelling is also part of email etiquette, but I don't think many people know of this rule--or so it seems. I'll admit even I sometimes use improper grammar on the internet while talking casually with friends. One of the main errors I make is not capitalizing words that should be. I usually write in all lowercase letters. Yes, the spelling and punctuation as well as other basic syntax are all correct, but for some reason I just don't capitalize while I email or instant message in casual conversations at least. I also often forget to proofread because when I send an email I am usually in a hurry. One website tells us that following proper grammar rules is important, but it's not necessarily important to follow a certain type of writing style or comply with every rule in the book. And another site gives some great advice: "Poor writing is equivalent to someone speaking with spinach stuck between their teeth. Listeners and readers concentrate on the spinach; not what is being said." The site also tells us to use paragraphs! I can't stand it when people send me an email that is one big paragraph. What's even worse is when the email is one big run-on "sentence."

Those are just a couple of the many rules for email etiquette. Whether it's a personal email to family and friends or a professional email to your professors or colleagues, it's important to keep the rules in mind. Does anyone have a certain rule they always follow when emailing? What about a certain rule you don't follow? Is email etiquette too grim?

Week 3 - It's 9-9-09

It is that time of the year again, the time where the month, day, and year all match up to be the same number. This time, it's 09-09-09. A quick Google search will come up with pages of this date, and most of these pages consist of user-generated content, a place where people can leave their comments and thoughts. Internet users can even share their questions about what hte date really means. According to MSN.com, 9-9-09 is significant in meaning luck or even forgiveness. But not only is the number 9 lucky, this date represents the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we'll see for almost a century. Amazing, huh? Well, I guess. Does anyone remember 9-9-99? I was young then, but remember it being a big deal. In fact, in our basement of our house, we were putting new concrete in, and my sister and I handprinted and dated the wet cement on 9-9-99. I also remember 6-6-06, or what some called the date of the apocolypse back then. I remember 7-7-07, a day largely appreciated by gamblers. However, not one of these dates proved significant to me. But one thing this date may be good for is marketing and business promotions. Hotels are giving discounts, The Beatles made their way to Rock Band, and Apple iPod event was announced.

If you're not interested in any of these, CNN gives a list of nine ways to celebrate this special date. The website even gives a few ideas of celebrating 9-9-09 by participating in social media. The Republicans are asking Twitter users to log on at 9 p.m. ET for what is being billed as the "largest Twitter tea party ever." One website is doing the opposite of taking advantage of this date (or so it seems). The humor Web site URLesque has declared a one-day ban on all cat-related videos and stories on 09/09/09. According to CNN, that could be because feline luck runs out after 9 lives. I know of a cat that got an extra chance at life today, though. After work last night I heard a meowing sound as I was getting in my car. There is usually a stray cat that wanders around the area, so I just assumed it was that cat. Then I got home. I heard a meowing sound again, so I look all over the interior of my car and even in the trunk and underneath, and I found nothing. I even had my boyfriend come and help me find this cat. It stopped meowing and neither of us could find it so we gave up, thinking it was just a coincidence. Then I got in my car today and lo and behold, I heard the meowng sound again. I met up with my friend and she helped me look for a cat and eventually we found one tucked away in the engine, scared out of its tail. Other than being frieghtened, it looked totally unharmed.

This sounds like a story I could share with 25-year-old student Matthias Kluckert in Germany who is leading an internet project soliciting stories from around the world on 9-9-09 -- to capture an ordinary day on Earth experienced by people across cultures.
The project, "A Day on the Planet," hopes to collect the best stories and eventually publish them in eight languages. Does anyone else have a particular story that happened today or on any of the other "significant dates?"