Both of these tools allow the user to have all of the news they want, delivered into one place. With Google News, I set up my own personalised news page with the sections of news I wanted being delivered. This allowed me to have U.K News and U.K Sport to be the dominating features of this page, sections of the news which I find msot important. The main problem I encountered with this application is getting more specific areas of news. If I wanted the latest news on my favourite band, for example, there is a way of setting up a section where every story including the band name will be posted. However this means that potentially stories that have nothing to do with what I want can end up in this section, meaning I would have to filter through meaningless stories to find what I want.
With Google Reader, you subscribe to news feeds which get delivered to your page. This means that you can get stories from sites and writers that you are familiar with and can trust. With this tool you get a bit more freedom that Google News and also can get more specific stories. With Google News I struggled to get decent music stories, as it all came under the 'Entertainment' section and again meant more filtering. With Google Reader I was able to subscribe to NME and Drowned In Sound's news sections and was able to get the stories that I would want to read.
Overall I can see how both tools would be useful to a journalist, but due to inevitable inaccuracies in the stories received, I wouldn't dedicate my professional life to them.
Friday, 18 April 2008
Friday, 14 March 2008
Critical Evaluation
The whole idea behind our group blog was to review podcasts that most people wouldn't have heard of. We intended to find alternative podcasts and give them so exposure, and point people into their direction. The audience we had in mind was students around our age, as they would be most internet knowledgeable and most likely to listen to podcasts.
The actual process of posting a blog was very time-consuming. First I would have to find a podcast worthy of reviewing, then I would have to listen to through, then write the review, normally having to listen back in order to avoid inaccuracy. One of the podcasts I listened to was two hours long, I did listen to all of it as I felt it would mean a fair review. Looking back at my posts I would like to have included a few more links, perhaps to other podcasts of a similar genre to the one I was reviewing. Also maybe an extra picture or two, as it did look quite text heavy at points. However it is difficult to find pictures for podcasts, as there is no real need for them.
The blog site itself looked good, the banner and design was pleasing on the eye and wasn't too heavy. With the amount of posts we ended up with, it would definitely be worthwhile adding sections at the top of the page, to find the podcast you're looking for. Also it would have been better to have just a sample of the review on the main page and a link to the rest of it, as there was a content on the site toward the end. Overall I think the experience was good and has definitely left me confident in my own blogging abilities. The group blog worked well, and with a few improvements would have been even better.
The actual process of posting a blog was very time-consuming. First I would have to find a podcast worthy of reviewing, then I would have to listen to through, then write the review, normally having to listen back in order to avoid inaccuracy. One of the podcasts I listened to was two hours long, I did listen to all of it as I felt it would mean a fair review. Looking back at my posts I would like to have included a few more links, perhaps to other podcasts of a similar genre to the one I was reviewing. Also maybe an extra picture or two, as it did look quite text heavy at points. However it is difficult to find pictures for podcasts, as there is no real need for them.
The blog site itself looked good, the banner and design was pleasing on the eye and wasn't too heavy. With the amount of posts we ended up with, it would definitely be worthwhile adding sections at the top of the page, to find the podcast you're looking for. Also it would have been better to have just a sample of the review on the main page and a link to the rest of it, as there was a content on the site toward the end. Overall I think the experience was good and has definitely left me confident in my own blogging abilities. The group blog worked well, and with a few improvements would have been even better.
Group Blog Promotion
I was part of the infamous Bedroom Bandits, reviewing the good, the bad and the ugly of the podcast world. In order to promote our blog, it is key to target our audience, mainly students who enjoy listening to podcasts. Social Networking sites are very important, as most students have a myspace/facebook/whatever else there is. So perhaps creating our own page, and linking to whatever ones we feel are worthy of our audience's attention. If they have own myspace pages, they could be included in our top friends. Another way of promoting our blog would be to find forums or message boards dedicated to the podcast world. By offering our constructive opinion on relevant topics, we could again link back to our blog through a signature, so not to be too obvious. Dedicated, independent podcast sites could also be worth a visit, again try and set up some affiliation and link to each other's web pages.
Lest we forget, there is a world outside of the internet. Promotion in the real world could be useful as well. Even by just adding the URL of the blog on letterheads, or anywhere else that would be applicable, will generate some interest. Word of mouth is a forgotten tool, telling friends to check out your blog can lead them to telling their friends, who tell their friends, until the whole world is reading your blog.
Lest we forget, there is a world outside of the internet. Promotion in the real world could be useful as well. Even by just adding the URL of the blog on letterheads, or anywhere else that would be applicable, will generate some interest. Word of mouth is a forgotten tool, telling friends to check out your blog can lead them to telling their friends, who tell their friends, until the whole world is reading your blog.
Thursday, 14 February 2008
Valentine's Day - The YouTube Way
More specifically, the Queens of the Stone Age way. Josh Homme and co have asked their fans to send in videos of them making out to recent single 'Make It Wit Chu' for Valentine's Day, read all about it here. They've created a group on YouTube for the clips to be sent to, the link is there if any of you decide to go for it...(I won't judge). Here is the video for Make It Wit Chu to give aspiring 'filmakers' some inspiration:
While technically I'm not reviewing anything in particular, this is still a great example of the impact YouTube is having on every different media platform out there. The connection between musician and fan is literally only a click away. YouTube has grown immensely since its conception in 2005, affecting music in positive and negative ways. Fans can post their own music videos. This could be a video they've created for a certain song and edited together. It could also be a mobile phone clip from a recent gig. However rather than embracing YouTube, unsurprisingly big music corporations are not as receptive to the amount people can access. Hence the reason why if you post an official music video used by the band in question, it will probably be taken off as soon as the record label realises it's on there.
As QOTSA have proven though, YouTube is also a way of giving the fans something back. Admittedly, it is a bit different to what competitions have been offered before by others. But it still allows fans to interact via the web and have the chance of being seen by the band and millions online. I'm certain there are going to more cases of band's offering their fans competitions through YouTube. Perhaps not quite in the same way as Homme has done here, mind.
While technically I'm not reviewing anything in particular, this is still a great example of the impact YouTube is having on every different media platform out there. The connection between musician and fan is literally only a click away. YouTube has grown immensely since its conception in 2005, affecting music in positive and negative ways. Fans can post their own music videos. This could be a video they've created for a certain song and edited together. It could also be a mobile phone clip from a recent gig. However rather than embracing YouTube, unsurprisingly big music corporations are not as receptive to the amount people can access. Hence the reason why if you post an official music video used by the band in question, it will probably be taken off as soon as the record label realises it's on there.
As QOTSA have proven though, YouTube is also a way of giving the fans something back. Admittedly, it is a bit different to what competitions have been offered before by others. But it still allows fans to interact via the web and have the chance of being seen by the band and millions online. I'm certain there are going to more cases of band's offering their fans competitions through YouTube. Perhaps not quite in the same way as Homme has done here, mind.
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Timeline of Blogging
1990: Tim Berners-Lee outlines proposals for the World Wide Web.
1992: Berners-Lee lists new websites as they appear online.
1994: Justin Hall launches his first 'online diary' - Justin's Home Page.
1997: John Barger invents the phrase 'weblog' to describe these online diaries.
1998: Open Diary launches. Bloggers could now comment on other people's blogs.
1999: Brad Fitzpatrick starts LiveJournal.
1999: Peter Merholz splits Barger's invention into 'wee-blog', creating the verb 'to blog'.
1999: Blogger.com (the site you're on right now), is launched by Pyra Labs.
2003: Google buys Blogger.com under undisclosed terms from Pyra Labs.
2007: Blogging popularity has exploded, with 70 million blogs worldwide.
1992: Berners-Lee lists new websites as they appear online.
1994: Justin Hall launches his first 'online diary' - Justin's Home Page.
1997: John Barger invents the phrase 'weblog' to describe these online diaries.
1998: Open Diary launches. Bloggers could now comment on other people's blogs.
1999: Brad Fitzpatrick starts LiveJournal.
1999: Peter Merholz splits Barger's invention into 'wee-blog', creating the verb 'to blog'.
1999: Blogger.com (the site you're on right now), is launched by Pyra Labs.
2003: Google buys Blogger.com under undisclosed terms from Pyra Labs.
2007: Blogging popularity has exploded, with 70 million blogs worldwide.
Friday, 1 February 2008
Who Uses The Internet?
Internet popularity has certainly boomed over the last ten years, currently 63.8% of the UK population are internet users, according to Internet World Stats. 2007 saw a rise in the amount of broadband users, with 84% of the UK internet population surfing on a broadband connection. This was a rise of 15% from the previous year.
How are us Brits using our time online? Searching for goods and services was the top activity online, with 84% doing so. However, more men contributed to this (88%) than women (79%). Women's favourite internet pastime was e-mail, with 80% spending their time doing this.
Unsurprisingly money also affects who uses the world wide web. According to the same site, 93% of those with an income over £36,400 had internet access. Compare that to adults with an income under £10,400, where 51% had never even used the internet.
Expect the amount of users to rise considerably in the coming months and years. With every passing day the internet becomes more and more important in everyday life.
How are us Brits using our time online? Searching for goods and services was the top activity online, with 84% doing so. However, more men contributed to this (88%) than women (79%). Women's favourite internet pastime was e-mail, with 80% spending their time doing this.
Unsurprisingly money also affects who uses the world wide web. According to the same site, 93% of those with an income over £36,400 had internet access. Compare that to adults with an income under £10,400, where 51% had never even used the internet.
Expect the amount of users to rise considerably in the coming months and years. With every passing day the internet becomes more and more important in everyday life.
The First Ever Blogger...
...Is somewhat of a mystery. There are many people who can claim they are deserving of such a prestigious title, one of whom is Justin Hall. Hall started his online diary in 1994.
Another name to throw into the mix is Dave Winer, who launched the website Scripting News in 1997. Winer's website started linking viewers to other pages of interest, a key element in the future world of blogging.
What about John Barger? Barger first coined the term 'weblog' in 1997. This was then shortened into 'blog' by Peter Merholz in early 1999.
So as you can see, there is no definitive creator of the blogging phenomen. The names mentioned above have all impacted the way blogging works today, and there are countless others who have made their mark also.
Another name to throw into the mix is Dave Winer, who launched the website Scripting News in 1997. Winer's website started linking viewers to other pages of interest, a key element in the future world of blogging.
What about John Barger? Barger first coined the term 'weblog' in 1997. This was then shortened into 'blog' by Peter Merholz in early 1999.
So as you can see, there is no definitive creator of the blogging phenomen. The names mentioned above have all impacted the way blogging works today, and there are countless others who have made their mark also.
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