Blogs: Blog Task

Definition of the word "blog":
A journal written online which can be accessed by all users of the internet.


How are blogs different to normal sites?
A website is more of an online "portfolio" where one can display what they have to offer, whereas a blog is more like an online conversation between users of the web. A blog is more interactive and websites can have more elaborate pictures.


Why do people use blogs?
For most "bloggers", a blog is their way of expressing themselves and their area of expertise. Blogs can also be used to share problems and to resolve them with members of the online community.


What are the advantages and disadvantages of a blog?
Blogs can provide a place for which people can share problems and solve them together. It can also be used as a business tool to easily provide customer service.
On the other hand, a blog can easily become less formal, this means that someone may give away too much information (such as addresses, pin numbers etc.). The blogger themselves may also not take into thought the consequences of how they are expressing their feelings, for instance someone could easily be cyber-bullied if the blogger insults them, or offends them.


Find 3 interesting news stories about blogs and how they affected peoples' lives.
1. Ellen Simonetti, the flight attendant who documented the day to day life of her job, consequently being fired for "inappropriate" material. This helped people realise the potential dangers of blogs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Simonetti
2. Kareem Amer, an egyptian former law student imprisoned for being anti-religious and writing blogs against the president of egypt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_Amer
3. Actor John Cusack, wrote controversial statements on twitter about the building of a mosque at the ground zero area in New York City. This lost him many movie fans. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/actor-john-cusack-sparks-controversy-with-satanic-death-center-tweet_100424080.html


How are comments useful on a blog?
Comments allow the blogger to learn from his/her readers so that they can develop future blogs. It can also provide an oppurtuniy for readers to have response from the blogger themself.
Websites Used:

How to use a blog:
When logging into your account for the first time, the user will encount the dashboard. At the dashboard the user can edit their blog and account details easily. The tabs along the top provide clear and concise shortcuts to different sections of editing the blog:

To create a new blog post the user can click the short cut "New Post" which stands out from the rest of the page to make it easy to locate:

After the button is clicked, a screen is loaded (like the one shown below). The user has a tile bar, where they can type in the post title. Along the top of where the post itself is written, is a toolbar (similar to a word processor) where the user can change the font, font size, font style, font colour, highlight colour, insert a picture, link, movie, embedded code, bullet points, numbers and a quote. This can be used to make the blog easy to read and aesthetically pleasing at the same time.

The user also has the option of changing the design of the blog itself, this is located at the "design tab":

Here, the user encounters a "textless" version of their blog, here they can move around gadgets between columns and add other gadgets to make their blog more interesting. More advanced bloggers can use the "template designer" to customise the design template of their blog.

The following screen then appears along with a preview of the blog:

At this screen the user can choose a pre-designed template, as well as changing the background layout and design. Most casual users stick to templates, but more advanced users may edit the design (font colours, background colours etc.) of the template itself to suit client/friends/their own needs.


Bibliography
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_people_use_blogs
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blog
http://www.blogger.com/goog_555820192
http://www.flyteblog.com/flyte/2006/02/blogs_vs_web_si_1.html