Reflection Time: Just Keep Blogging. Just Keep Blogging.

“Blogs are whatever we make of them. Defining 'blog' is a fool's errand” - Michael Conniff

The blogsphere is the new age coffee-shop conversations stretching from who did what on the weekend to Zuma's latest fraud charge. Blogging made me realise the impact a journalist's words can have on the world. We aimed for first years to read, but blogs are global advertisements. I can now value the blogging-for-dummies term and modify my topics and grievances.

We were free to create our blog, it's personality and appearance within the genre type. That of using a Blogger space for assignments, focusing on life as a first year. The formation of newbie and experienced bloggers was a new experience – one that made me realise how a journalist needs contacts, especially ones who are full-fledged in the language of computer geek.In Blogsphere 101, my tutor asked if anyone owned a personal blog to carry as an example to the rest. On reflex, my hand jumped up and my mouth opened. Not Lauren at all.I was quite timid to share my blog, but there it was on the big screen. Barbie-pink and outdated, I cringed silently, making sure no one saw me turning a cherry-red. I regret that feeling. What is the point of writing a blog if no one sees your work? A blog is a window on one's world and one's honest-to-God emotions. As an aspiring journalist, I have grown to see that blogging is your unofficial editor to Mugg and Bean conversations.

A global readership and colourful electronic paper made my personal productivity levels rise. By being part of a group, I could share and learn their take on first year. Instead of feeling that your articles are unnoticed by the department, we were able to be seen by a global audience. The fact that someone in China or Nigeria could have access to your work by clicking their mouse was stimulating. That a somebody from somewhere was able to have a conversation with you, giving you their two cents or praise your work like a Harry Potter fan would J.K Rowling.My mom has always been a fan of my writing. Yes, this is a biased example. My mom, absent of technical know-how, was interested in my blogging genre.
“A blog? Is it a thing on the computer? Can you send it to me?” she asked. I explained how to access the Rhodentity blog from her office computer. After a few minutes, she was a visitor to the pink and purple screen. She is now a frequent visitor of the Rhodentity blog. She has even left her comment on my profile article.

Rhodentity is a friend, telling you about being a sardine in a shark tank. Informal journalism from the eyes of post-puberty youngsters. Each story idea was related to being a student in Rhodes University. Content, sources and acknowledgments were usually huddled into lectures, res life and what happened out in the town. The letter to the younger was meant for an aspiring first year – me, two years earlier, aiming to grab an acceptance letter from Rhodes. The profile was centered on a Rhodes student who had overcome the difficulties of first year.The profile's range was limited and I felt frustrated. The opinion piece was liberating. We could create a topic, free from requirements. The opinion piece was a device that I found credible with being a blogger. What do I think about Zuma? Well, that shower-head fanatic is...Is Miss Beetroot as dumb as the media plays out? Duh!

Working in a group took away the stress of being a first year. In meetings, we were co-operative in sharing ideas. Each week, the tutorials were helpful to get in touch with our inner-geek. Experienced bloggers had the chance to teach themselves. So did my friend.“You can rewrite the HTML in the folder and paste it in to the edit box on the dashboard...if that does not work just do back to default.”Excuse me? Can you repeat that?
By following different blogs, we were able to see different ideas that float in the head of a first year. I felt relaxed in most of the meetings. Working with peers is a lot more easy and I was more inclined to share and question about assignments.. Not about that HTML stuff, though. (spine-chilling stuff)

The blogging course scored a 9.5 on being as helpful to grow as a new age journalist. Readers are more likely going to turn on their computers than open a newspaper. Technology has produced the 'Google Whores' – so dependable on a wireless connection that they will wait for a slow connection just to see the latest post on Obama and Paris Hilton.

Is it suitable to call blogging journalism? An unknown source on the internet argues that “it is equally tiresome and useless to argue about whether blogs are journalism, for journalism is not limited by the tool or medium or person used in the act.”
Previously, journalism was defined as a newspaper. Then, as television. Now, with Microsoft and Google joining arms for world domination, the internet has become a new tool for a journalist. What makes people hesitate to call it journalism is the fact that anyone can blog. The difference is that real journalism is a relation to the world. What happened? Discussing based on evidence, opinion and emotion.You write for an imagined audience, ranging from a divorced woman in Texas to a druggie in France.

Research and sources were confined to students. I would go out, searching for an interesting hamster for my experiment: that of writing a profile.Searching around res for someone engrossing, I found a girl who thought all Journalism students were snoopy. Another said she wasn't going to “share like a diary.” First years treat you like a first year. You're like them but stupid.“Why do you gotta keep getting private?” the girl announced.I have not asked you anything yet.
“I don't want to share right now.”
I didn't want her to confess her sexual desires or blood type. There are some sources you just have to respect and move on.
I eventually found a specimen. He was male in origin and not as acid-queen material. Speaking informally to a first year was easy. As a fellow student, the interview was effortless.
The blog opened me up to a new creative spell of writing, different from the strict rules of hard news stories. All assignments were for us to write about how we feel about a certain issue within the theme of being first years. It was difficult to not hike above the word limit and challenged me to say what I wanted. I wanted another handful of fries, but the plate was too small.

My opinion piece was centered on race – an ethical issue. Now that I think of it, the example of the girl whose milk was stolen, accusing anyone who was not white could have been a little risky to share with the world. No one knows who she is, as I didn't name her, but perhaps her whispered “It's not that I'm a racist” comment was supposed to be secret - even though I thought she was wrong. By not naming her, I gave her mindset perceptible to anyone. The nameless face in my opinion is just an example of how we all devil in hypocrisy.
Living like Dory from Finding Nemo, I'm gonna keep blogging. Just keep blogging. Just keep blogging.