Blogging for Iran

Hossein Derakhshan is a blogger whose blogs are becoming a main source of press in Iran along with many others. Derakhshan is from Canada and his blog hoder.com is responsible for Persian and Iranian blogs popping up. This is giving those people a chance to speak their minds, and understand others on web logs. Unfortunately, these blogs are monitored and filtered by the Iranian government who feel that they are power is being challenged by these people. I chose this blog because it is a prime example of how important freedom of speech is and how much speech is limited around the world. It is not acceptable for a common person in Iran to have a blog but it is crucial for presidential candidates to ensure his popularity. The posts on this web log are news based, they are the information the public needs to know about, and they are quick, exact facts. His writing style is quick and to the point, the posts are information packed, political, and worldly. I think that this blog is less scary and intimidating to the government of Iran that MacKinnon portrayed it to be and it is more and more informative to the people reading the blog as to what is going on in the world as a whole not just in Iran. It is close to what I thought it to be, it is more information and fact based then speaking the mind then I anticipated after reading “Making Global Voices Heard: An Interview with Rebecca MacKinnon” but it is still for the Persian people of Iran as well as now being for others who speak either English or Persian. Of course, many will probably disagree with this assertion that this blog and blogs in general are a way for one to be able to speak freely and give and receive information on events and facts going on in the world however this assertion is not going to change my mind on this blog and other blogs ability to reach people through free words.

Ayelet Waldman and my views on blogging

After reading the Ayelet Waldman interview by Kline and Burstein I do feel a sense of understanding with what she is saying, how writing things raw and uncut can feel cleansing, therapeutic in a way. I do not know much about bipolar disorder, I do not understand taking pills to balance your emotions, to balance your life but I do understand writing. You can let yourself dive in to the deep sea of freedom, of verbs and nouns unscathed by anyone else, out there for you to grasp on to and put in to such form that frees your soul. Blogging is a way of writing, a way of getting that therapeutic feeling that someone, somewhere is listening to you, or at least that is the impression I was given by Waldman’s response. I have never blogged personally or read any other then what we have written in class, I see downfalls and I see advantages after reading this article. I feel that it is a bit demoralizing, frightening and creepy to know that you do not know who is reading what you are writing, what they’re intentions are and if you are safe despite the heartwarming story she portrayed about how blogging saved her life. I’m of two minds about Waldman’s claim that blogging is as amazing, affectionate and life changing. On the one hand, I agree that it is a way to get those unrefined thoughts out and in front of you. On the other hand, I am not sure if I still believe it is safe to be writing to such an audience as blogging does. Despite my reservations, I believe that this is a good case in which blogging is not as bad as I presumed it to be and feel it may be a good thing for some people.

Ayelet Waldman and my views on blogging

After reading the Ayelet Waldman interview by Kline and Burstein I do feel a sense of understanding with what she is saying, how writing things raw and uncut can feel cleansing, therapeutic in a way. I do not know much about bipolar disorder, I do not understand taking pills to balance your emotions, to balance your life but I do understand writing. You can let yourself dive in to the deep sea of freedom, of verbs and nouns unscathed by anyone else, out there for you to grasp on to and put in to such form that frees your soul. Blogging is a way of writing, a way of getting that therapeutic feeling that someone, somewhere is listening to you, or at least that is the impression I was given by Waldman’s response. I have never blogged personally or read any other then what we have written in class, I see downfalls and I see advantages after reading this article. I feel that it is a bit demoralizing, frightening and creepy to know that you do not know who is reading what you are writing, what they’re intentions are and if you are safe despite the heartwarming story she portrayed about how blogging saved her life. I’m of two minds about Waldman’s claim that blogging is as amazing, affectionate and life changing. On the one hand, I agree that it is a way to get those unrefined thoughts out and in front of you. On the other hand, I am not sure if I still believe it is safe to be writing to such an audience as blogging does. Despite my reservations, I believe that this is a good case in which blogging is not as bad as I presumed it to be and feel it may be a good thing for some people.

what parents should know hw 7

Middle school aged children are exactly that they are children. Not only are they in the period of their life when things are awkward to begin with but add the internet and all its insecurities there is bound to be issues. Any form of blogging whether personal diaries, social, news, jokes, or communication at that age is inappropriate if it is unlimited. What they see, share and know should be monitored until they are aware of their surroundings, reactions and most importantly themselves. If a child is on a web log without parental consent and observation there is the chance of them getting in to severe trouble. Sharing “too much information” (page 351, Nassbaum) as said in terms of what is going on to the internet, the misleading-contradicting internet; is something that all children are apt to do once starting a web log. They get anxious, excited and eager to get going and make a name for themselves, to belong to it and put themselves out there for the first time. Once they put that information out there, there is no way for them to take it back or hide it, it is not private despite what many may think, it is not anonymous it is out there and anyone can get their hands on it. This is a huge fear especially in parents when their young middle school child is on line blogging his “life” to God knows who God knows where. Granted every child needs to feel attention in some form other then from their friends or parents, it needs to be done in a safe and healthy manor and if they need help or someone to talk to the internet is not the place to do it, it is not safe or healthy.

“Peer into an online journal, you find the operatic texture of a teenage life with its fits of romantic misery, quick change moods and sardonic inside jokes. Gossip spreads like poison. Diary writers compete for attention, then fret when they get it. And every parents fear is true.” (Emily Nussbaum page 351)

That alone should scare parents in to monitoring what they are son or daughter is doing on line, it should be a wake up call to all parents whose children have access to the internet! It is not safe. It should be monitored and have an age limit, have securities, monitoring and not be so easy to log in to. It should not even exist to a 12 or 13 year old, it should be for the 20 + who know the consequence and facts and can handle what could become of their life when they blog personal information.

newspapers are forever hw 5b

After reading, “I Blog, Therefore I am” the discussion of newspapers and mainstream media is a reoccurring them that I find a semi-depressing matter. There are many paragraphs and statements revolving around the decline in reading/viewing of mainstream media. On page 241, Kline demonstrates that despite the decrease in newspaper reading and TV viewing that people still use it as their fall back, their reliance for information on the world today. Claming that blogs on the news and happenings in the world are primary news sources when actual mainstream media is their source of information! How can newspapers and other media types have such a decline when bloggers themselves are using they are information for their blogs…if bloggers want to become the next and best media source they need to start getting the news for them instead of using the media they are slowly devastating. Once they deplete the news, as we know it, what will they use? How will they rise to the occasion of being the primary news source for America? When reading the numbers that read or do not read newspapers or books in our country is it saddening to see the numbers are decreasing however I feel the need to contend the fact that newspapers are dying, I believe that they are not dying I believe that the emphasis that they deserve is dying. Newspapers are more then blogs can ever be, they are existent, concrete and something that has been and will be forever a reliable source of media whether or not the blogging industry that sucks it dry for information survives or not.

What I'm interested in HW six

In reading over these topics of interest in order to get ideas for our semester-long research and writing project I found many options for my paper. To be honest, in the first section I had to look up and ask questions on what they actually were, I am not up on my technological jargon. I found quite a few that caught my eye after I looked them up! Such as aggregators because I love music and being able to have it at the tip of my fingers at any moment is amazing to me, also being able to receive and listen to music from all over the world! Emails and instant messaging is something I am addicted to like every other teenager on this campus! It is our way of communicating instantly and efficiently, not to mention the cute smiley faces! As for my last interest in this section, the bulletin boards are proving to be extremely handy! As for empowerment of marginalized groups…to be VERY honest, I have not put much thought in to them before. At all. However, I looked in to them, tapped in to my knowledge of them, and found two that I would like to take a deeper look. Overcoming religious intolerance/barriers between people of different religions is something that peaks my curiosity on account that I am Catholic and with the scandals and accusations it is very difficult to be a practicing Catholic without judgment or comments as well as many other issues within and involving other religions. I also tied in the last topic with this one; I want so badly to move to Europe when I am older, particularly France. I am starting to look in to what it takes to be a citizen and the tolerance and rights in that country is something I am extremely concerned with, want, and need to look in to for the near future!

HW IIII option two

Upon searching for an item in my room to investigate a promise made for millions of consumers my roommates made the decision for me when we all sat down to play UNO! Being a rainy evening and the hills not starting till 10 we all couldn’t resist the enthralling game of UNO! On that bright red shiny box sat eight yellow words, “Easy to pick up…impossible to put down!” The promise of the Mattel Company for this fun loving card game for all ages is accurate for the game, after playing with my roommates for forty-five minutes I full understand how easy it is to pick up and impossible to put down! We laughed the entire game and bonded throughout the game as well! On the Mattel website UNO is portrayed as “America’s # 1 brand of family games! Easy to play and fast fun for everyone!” Every game in the Mattel industry is given the title as being “the games that are just right for you” combined with their bright and attractive packaging the games are hard to resist! I know the six of us have a hard time resisting UNO and feel that they keep their promise in every game we play!

HW III: responding to reading

This inside look at how blogging has helped or shall I say molded our “more participatory democracy” takes the reader though exactly how it boomed. How blogging hit the high road in to the life of those campaigning and those following campaign trails. Beginning with a slow start to fame and enduring the criticism from many mainstream media participants blogging has influenced many American politicians as well as people interested in them. Kline shows how political blogging gained fame with their ability to gain interest and knowledge more quickly and efficiently than the rest, the attraction to the blogs spread like wild fire through the web. Having the ability to release information untouched by other media forms on topics ignored by even our President. For example the pictures and information on our troops and action in Baghdad, not only did our own media not even touch on it but was bewildered with the amount of money it would take to track the story. A local Baghdad blogger posted the story in full, spreading it throughout the blogging industry for all to see, costless and full of information readers wanted and needed to know about OUR troops, but it was too costly for OUR media to cover. Blogging is free, it takes only time and information to do yet it is criticized by so many both on line and accounts stated in this excerpt from Blog. As read in “Toward a More Participatory Democracy” countless politicians have benefited both monetarily and fame wise due to blogging, it has given names to so many on the campaign trail. More then 28 million readers in 2004 visited the top ten political blogs, more so than the numbers watching or reading about it on the mainstream media. Blogs proved to influence interest and teach voters, even after the poll it kept up their interest and attention. Many people assume that blogging is set for the younger demographic however after reading this it is proven that reading and taking part in blogs is for everyone. I believe that every political party should take advantage of this source for at least a piece of their campaign; it would be foolish for them not to. Just looking at the amount of people logging on to political blogs in 2004, this should be incentive enough to make a blog for any campaign. However I do wonder how much of the information on blogs is factual on account that blogging is the new form of communication for everyone…couldn’t there be false information being posted as factual. I feel that there is a lack of security with the web and has a potential for disaster with putting political and personal information out there.

HW II: responding to reading

Reading magazines is something I believe every woman does monthly if not weekly, whether in the check out line, doctor’s office, at home or at work. A woman feels compelled to read about what is in a magazine. There is so much information not mentioned on the news or in the news papers that is interesting to so many…celebrity life, gossip, burning questions, sex, the typical Cosmopolitan magazine cover stories and much more not dared by most. Bloggers dare. They put themselves out there and write about sex, they write about the everyday burning questions and they write to the women standing in the check out lines when they are at home. Kline and Burstein project the possibilities that say its okay to write or blog about the topics less talked about but constantly thought of. In “From Cave Painting to Wonkette” they state that it will become the celebrities themselves telling those interested about their personal lives, answering questions and promoting the way they want to be promoted. It will become the celebrities. It will become the viewers. They will become one on line together blogging and reading. I myself am addicted to trash magazines, the ones that only come out once a month…if they were to be blogged about, or blogged by those I am reading about it would be more real, more raw, uncut gossip “straight from the horses mouth” so to speak twenty four seven! No waiting in check out lines just to read how Britney’s doing or going to the doctor’s office to see what’s new from Vogue, it is on-line, all the time just for us trash readers!! It is the new wave of blogging, the new wave of media, the new way for us to “coexist” as celebrity and everyday Joe.