Blogger Task

What is meant by the word blog?????

a: "A blog is a journal written online and is also accessible to users online"

.reference- www.dictionary.com

A blog contains views, information and stories that the creator has chosen to put onto it. Blogs are sites where you can find a range of views and opinions as well as information. The website 'www.blogger.com' is a really sophisticated and efficient way of setting up your own blog; it also allows you to publicly publish your posts and connect with other people such as your teachers. For example, if you are using your blog to post all of your work, your teachers will be able to view them and also give you feedback in the form of comments as well as using their blogs to post any information.

This is how easy it is to set up a blog account on blogger.com;

How are blogs different to normal sites??

There are various reasons why blogs are different from normal web pages.

the first reason for this is that blogs allow for the public to comment and give feedback to your blog, which helps to inform you of any positive and negative aspects of the posts so that you will be able to the changes that may be necessary.

blogger also make life very convenient as the posts are put online at the touch of a button, which saves the time of trying to upload work onto the internet and trying to make it compatable. blogs also allow us to automatically embed codes for videos and links in our posts so that we don't have to do it ourselves.

Why do people use blogs????

Blogging is a fast and easy way to get your opinions out to the public and get yourself heard. Blogging has become so popular that if you are in need of a quick answer to a question or even some information, blogging is an excellent way to get information.

What are the advantages and disadvantages with using blogs???

The advantages of using blogs are;

• They are quick and easy to use as they are very efficient and automated which saves a lot of time for the person who is blogging as it cuts out all the time needed to make the post compatable on the internet est.
• You can embed codes for videos which makes the process very efficient, this also allows the person to cut out the time needed to upload videos from sites such as youtube. 
• Give and receive comments on blogs which is really useful for the composer as they can use the comments to analyse the positive and negative aspects of the posts and blog in order for them to correct themselves or even correct an mistakes.
• You can access the latest news feeds using the news reel and use gadgets such as 'add a film' to insert a video of your choice. The news reel allows you to access the news into your blog without having to sort through the new that you want to and need.
• blogs can be constructed with the help of simple steps which I have constructed into a quick guide bellow. Also, the blogger website has been constructed to insure that new users can easily construct their blog; They will also be able to find instructions on how to create and edit posts, accessories their blog and add amazing time saving gadgets.
• your writting skills can also improve using blogs as you will find yourself making daily updates for convenience. 
• blogs can be put on your personal statement which is seen as a positive by universities. During university life you may find that some universities use bloggers to pass on notes from lectures as well as any work or comment and reminders. this may also be the case for your work colleagues and school teachers.
• you get the chance to read other blogs;  this is a positive as it will allow you to learn new things; comment and respond to peoples thoughts and views; it will also allow you to exchange views and  improve on your own posts. 
• you can share your work using blogs which is a positive as the work can be exchange through posts in a matter of seconds.

Disadvantages of using blogs;

• It is time consuming in order to update blogs, so for users who are on the go it is difficult to find the time to update blogs.
• all of the information can be shared online which may not be useful as the composer may want to keep their work to themselves and their friends.
• having a computer isnt always a luxuary that everyone can afford which is a very negative aspect because even if blogging is free, you have to pay for broadband and the equipment to use the internet.
• there is no confidentiallity on an online forum so nothing is private and everyone will see everything. this is very negative as if you would want to share personal information, it would be very difficult to do so.
• you cannot have a conversation on blogs as there is a time delay in the other person recieving the message which is a disadvantage as some people would find it useful to use blogging as a means of conversation.

Three interesting news stories about blogs ;

Mainstream media's hypocrisy over 'wicked' bloggers

Friday 3 September 2010 13.30 BST

The storm around William Hague and his adviser has enticed a new round of media sneering at political bloggers for their wicked ways. But this isn't just lazy, for reasons I'll explain, it ignores the real elephant in the room: how the national press collude and use the web for their vested interests.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/03/bloggers-william-hague-andy-coulson-media


This story is discussing the issues that relate to a 'Chinese whispers' that is being used through blogging. This is a really insightful story into what can happen in blogging in a particular topic.

Policeman's blog lifts lid on diversity madness

by PC David Copperfield

Last updated at 14:52 14 October 2006

What do you think the police actually do? If you watch lot of telly, you probably think we spend all day roaring about in our souped-up cars, kicking down doors and shooting people.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-410399/Policemans-blog-lifts-lid-diversity-madness.html#ixzz0z3HpFwz0

This story is an example of how blogging is an advantage as it can be used as a source of freedom of speech as well as a means of getting yourself heard.

How are comments useful in a blog???

Comments and views given on a blog are very useful to the creator as it is seen as feedback to allow the creator to decide whether the post is interesting or not. this is why comments are so important for the a blog and the blogger as it make it easier for the blogger to decide what changes to make to the blog because they have been given feedback rom the viewers.This also allows the creator of the blog to focus a lot more on the positive aspects to make the blog more interesting and focus on the negative points in order to improve on them and correct them. Blogs that are used to tell ongoing rants or stories can also find comments useful as they can be used to make sure that the bloggers viewers are happy with the posts

Step by Step plan to making a Blogger account;

                                                                                 Go onto the blogger website which is www.blogger.com and click on create an account, on the page, you can either log on if you already have an account or you click  "create blog" which will redirect you to the next stage of the application

                                                                                                                    To register you can use an existing email account address and then fill in the details, this page also asks you to choose a display name, which will be apart of your email address for blogger where people will be able to find you with. for example, my display name is 'ictastammi' so people will be able to find me with the email address www.ictastammi.blogspot.com

                                                                                                         Next, you will need to give your Blog a tittle name; and the url which we have already named. The url should be something that will be easy for you to remember as you will need to pass it on to any friends that may want to add you using the function that allows them to have a blog list

Then, you will be able to choose an appropriate template depending on what you would like the style of your blog to be. The templates are very good as this section allows you to customise the blog to represent you as an individual, as well as representing the concept of your blog

Everything is now done, all you do now is start blogging by clicking on the orange arrow "start blogging"