What the what is a blog?

The easy answer, conveniently swiped from a tab or two over at good old dictionary.com, is:

Blog [blawg, blog] noun-

a Web site containing the writer's or group of writers' own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other Web sites.

 

Let's start here. Just from the definition we know a blog can be individual or collective, shared or hoarded, and even expressive or informative. We know it's creative. We know it's a vessel that has the ability to take us in a multitude of directions. Links in a blog are pit stops on a road map, and can be useful tool to both writers and readers. We know there is an opportunity for feedback and rebuttal. We know it's accessible and compact. We know, it is not limited to blogger, but that there are many hosts for this new phenomenon and that they were becoming more and more popular. 

 

What you may not know is that a blog is part of Web 2.0 structure, which simply means it's interactive. The interesting part about this is that to a reader the site appears as a simple web page. Please note, that the more times I plead simplicity, the simpler it becomes.  Yet, there is software built into it that enables those readers to respond, critique and comment on the page presented, thus making it collaborative and practical. 

 

You may also not know the origins of the blog, originally termed web blog, which date back to the 1990s. Blogs began as "online diaries" which expressed the author's thoughts through multimedia presentations, such as text and video. One of the most popular blogs of the 1990's was launched by a company called Pyra. The founder, Meg Hourihan helped develop the internet application Blogger, which was later purchased by Google. For more on Meg and the early phases of blogger check out this article, published by The New Yorker back in 2000!

21 Year Old Dinosaur

Hello Friends,

Nice to see you made it here in one piece. I personally faced a long and insufferable struggle, dating back to the 1990's when this thing called the "world wide web" first came onto the scene. I remember my hesitation with clarity. It began with an unimaginative and ultimately removed babysitter, who introduced my sister and I to AIM. She did so by setting us up with these newfangled screen names, that would eventually allow us to chat mindlessly for hours with our peers. We shunned the outdoors and took solace in the dim light of the basement and continuous buzz of the PC duel processor. We never bothered her to play tag or feed us, and we never asked her when Mom would return home again. We were webheads, webbing away, forming relationships behind a screen, skipping out on sunlight and thinking it was awesome.

With time came a license and a renewed desire to seek human contact. We used our cars to unify a generation disbanded by technology and slowly but surely began to build relationships face to face. However, there was still a divide. Some could not peel themselves away, and relished in the wonders of the internet. They learned to program, blog, wiki, stumble upon. They read the paper online, watched TV online, and diligently edited their online identities.  These actions were justified with webcams. "It is human contact, see, even Aunt Sally uses Skype." I resisted. I holed up under a rock from the 20th century and silently panicked. I felt helpless. The world was under construction and I was a historic landmark that could not be altered.

I first realized I was losing the battle not only when I was reluctant to embrace technology, but also when I began to cling to obsolete forms. I was a myspace using, AIM chatting, Walkman Wearing, girl with a home phone and a VCR living in a world compatible with Facebook, iPods, pads, and phones all of which would download my soul if I let them. I didn't care, I persevered.

My passive resistance came to an abrupt end when I joined the education program and the basic flip phone upgraded to an iPhone whether I wanted it to or not. I was no longer left to my own inhibitions, but rather forced to be a role model, a molder of young minds, a scholar and an educator. Terms like "media literacy" and "wikispace" and "sakai" and "gmail" began to stifle me with their simplicity. I was warned repetitively that if I did not buck up and submit, I would be left behind. Not however, before my web savvy students trampled me and picked the flesh off my bones to fuel their jetpacks. I knew if I wanted to teach, I had to learn.

It is with a heavy heart that I embark on this quest for understanding. Please know, that it was not because I wanted to but because I had to.

Until next time,
Ms. Lavoie