This blogging business is tough to keep up with! And I think I'm about to fall into the trap of most bloggers/diarists, and now I see how easily it is done .... I haven't written in a while, mainly due to workload catching up with me.
Dissertation is slowly taking shape though.
It's funny, I wonder at the fact that I am writing about blogging and blurring the lines between a public and private life, because I'm finding myself now somewhat reluctant to publish the details of my work. I've always found it difficult to share my ideas, and often prefer to have them written cohesively before allowing anyone to read them. So why am I writing here?! (might have something to do with the 0 comments ... ie nobody cares!)
So...
Progress has been made! I have my main ideas all written in an introduction that has taken me the last few days to iron out, and I believe that there are probably still creases that need attention. But progress nonetheless. The main argument is basically that personal blogs are not diaries (in spite of basic definitions calling them online diaries) because of the community surrounding them, thus forcing them into a public domain and basically counteracting all of private/secretness of a traditional diary in the first place. So unless the definition of online diary means 'welcome to a community and share all of your ideas with the millions and zillions of people' (which I doubt because diary generally doesn't mean that), this argument should make sense.
I'll be looking at three blogs specifically and then discussing three main points that I think distinguish the personal blog from the diary and that demonstrate the community or lack of privacy of that personal blogging entails. So far I'm sure that I want to use format as one of the chapters, and time as well, but the third chapter is a bit wishywashy on concrete details! I figure Ill write what I already have and then see what's left...it will more than likely be authenticity, but as of yet im unsure how to relate this to a community. hmmm. We'll see. It might have something to do with identity and if you write to others, for others, you create a networked identity or something?!
Ill try to keep going with sharing my thoughts, I think that its kind of ironic that im writing about the community of blogging and I have zero comments! If any bloggers do come across this by chance....all comments welcome!!
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Thursday, 25 March 2010
1
Rather successful day, quite productive dissertationwise. I've been reading various books and coming across more ideas that I don't really need as 8000 words isn't enough space for them all.
On a depressing note, I did find out my exams are happening the week after my deadline. This means that time to write my dissertation now needs to be split between spanish oral preparation, translation (into and out of spanish), spanish writing skills and possibly the most challenging - spanish feminism. While spanish feminism is taking up a lot of my time, it has proved to be one of the more challenging and rewarding modules of my uni experience. It's a killer for the amount of reading and I only wish I could dedicate more time to it, unfortunately my dissertation is more important and a more personal project. Maybe I could find some spanish feminists blogging?
During my investigations today I have stumbled upon the following interesting things:
- Hayles describing the internet as a place without a body, where identity is subject to the will or to information rather than physical parameters such as gender, ethnicity, race etc. Not so sure what I'll do with this information, but I thought it was a curious idea.
- Huyssen implying that temporal anchoring is becoming more and more important in 21st century.
- 'Online diaries are more than just dialogues with the self but also a type of 'identity network' through which participants can seek out connections and discursive soapboxes from which to present themselves and their words'.
(all of the above in Andreas Kitzmann, 'Saved from Oblivion')
- There were weblog awards. I wonder what happened to these? Are they still going? I only found them up until 2008 I think.
- A friend of a friend is blogging and has given me their 6 reasons for blogging. This has been very useful.
I might start to read spanish blogs, I wonder where I could find these? It would be killing two birds with one stone.
My tutor wants 2000 words by next friday, I think this may be wishful thinking as I'm going home this weekend and need to complete a job application and support my step brothers in a potentially disappointing football match. Also words so far = 0. Starting to feel a little overwhelmed, think I will go to bed and start again tomorrow morning.
On a depressing note, I did find out my exams are happening the week after my deadline. This means that time to write my dissertation now needs to be split between spanish oral preparation, translation (into and out of spanish), spanish writing skills and possibly the most challenging - spanish feminism. While spanish feminism is taking up a lot of my time, it has proved to be one of the more challenging and rewarding modules of my uni experience. It's a killer for the amount of reading and I only wish I could dedicate more time to it, unfortunately my dissertation is more important and a more personal project. Maybe I could find some spanish feminists blogging?
During my investigations today I have stumbled upon the following interesting things:
- Hayles describing the internet as a place without a body, where identity is subject to the will or to information rather than physical parameters such as gender, ethnicity, race etc. Not so sure what I'll do with this information, but I thought it was a curious idea.
- Huyssen implying that temporal anchoring is becoming more and more important in 21st century.
- 'Online diaries are more than just dialogues with the self but also a type of 'identity network' through which participants can seek out connections and discursive soapboxes from which to present themselves and their words'.
(all of the above in Andreas Kitzmann, 'Saved from Oblivion')
- There were weblog awards. I wonder what happened to these? Are they still going? I only found them up until 2008 I think.
- A friend of a friend is blogging and has given me their 6 reasons for blogging. This has been very useful.
I might start to read spanish blogs, I wonder where I could find these? It would be killing two birds with one stone.
My tutor wants 2000 words by next friday, I think this may be wishful thinking as I'm going home this weekend and need to complete a job application and support my step brothers in a potentially disappointing football match. Also words so far = 0. Starting to feel a little overwhelmed, think I will go to bed and start again tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Introduction
So, I've decided to start a blog. It's quite a long time coming, I probably should have started one when I started this project for the first time. I'm a final year English Lit. student doing her dissertation on blogging. Now finally when everyone asks me what I'm doing my dissertation on and I say blogging, and the inevitable question that follows is 'oh, so you write a blog?', I can say 'yes'.
At the moment I have a lot of unanswered questions, and I guess I'm hoping to use this writing space as a forum to keep a record of those questions and try to find some answers. I feel slightly parasitic writing a blog on blogging, but I hope that writing about what I'm doing will help me to understand blogging, and if any bloggers out there come across my blog...feel free to chip in!
I met the author of Belle de Jour the other day, Brooke Magnanti. She was being interviewed by India Knight as part of the Oxford literary festival. I managed to corner her at the bar beforehand, she looked as if I might spit in her face or something and I assume it's just because she's not used to being recognised. After the initial shock though, she was lovely and told me to email her agent about asking her some questions. The interview itself was extremely interesting and she came across as a very inteligent and articulate woman, capable of handling anything that comes her way including abusive feminists, academics and adoring fans. She said some useful things that I still need to process, all of the sex work info obviously isn't so relevant, but it was entertaining. I found out that she particularly likes clean shaven men for reasons left to the imagination. Equally her opinions on glamourising prostitution, whether or not areas of the sex industry should be decriminalised, and what advice she had for a dominatrix were fascinating but not suitable to add to my dissertation (unless of course I wanted to try and give my examiner a heart attack). Of all of the things she did mention though, there was a story about the protection of her identity from a fellow blogger, and therefore this strengthens my argument that the community surrounding blogs is the key to their charm.
At the moment I have a lot of unanswered questions, and I guess I'm hoping to use this writing space as a forum to keep a record of those questions and try to find some answers. I feel slightly parasitic writing a blog on blogging, but I hope that writing about what I'm doing will help me to understand blogging, and if any bloggers out there come across my blog...feel free to chip in!
I met the author of Belle de Jour the other day, Brooke Magnanti. She was being interviewed by India Knight as part of the Oxford literary festival. I managed to corner her at the bar beforehand, she looked as if I might spit in her face or something and I assume it's just because she's not used to being recognised. After the initial shock though, she was lovely and told me to email her agent about asking her some questions. The interview itself was extremely interesting and she came across as a very inteligent and articulate woman, capable of handling anything that comes her way including abusive feminists, academics and adoring fans. She said some useful things that I still need to process, all of the sex work info obviously isn't so relevant, but it was entertaining. I found out that she particularly likes clean shaven men for reasons left to the imagination. Equally her opinions on glamourising prostitution, whether or not areas of the sex industry should be decriminalised, and what advice she had for a dominatrix were fascinating but not suitable to add to my dissertation (unless of course I wanted to try and give my examiner a heart attack). Of all of the things she did mention though, there was a story about the protection of her identity from a fellow blogger, and therefore this strengthens my argument that the community surrounding blogs is the key to their charm.
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