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Aggielife
The Battalion
A blog’s life
Page 3 • Wednesday, September 22, 2004
PACE BY JULIE BONE
2 Inline personal journals agrowing trendy despite potential for causing trouble
By Carrie Pierce
THE BATTALION
me Minister
' Zapatero-
■ by criticizing
unpopular sufl People are changing the way
r — saidheagley keep diaries and express
defending liMeir innermost thoughts as the
but disagreaBtemet continues to change
le way people communicate,
en Bush’s Jecently, keeping an online
he United Na« uma l l 1as become a popular
11, 2001 Mgbby. These interactive Web
d his speedl urnals arc commonly known
, the “great |vM“hl°g s 2 short for “Web logs.”
ke fighting ares P aces online where one
poverty tliel n wr '^ cm ries on an ongoing
' co ftsis of whatever he chooses.
i cloning I Accordin g U) Weblogs.com
V , 1C , lews, the first blog was the first
" , “SI* *e, http: mto.cem.cl, .
. . .»site built by Tim Berners-
he chaos ^t talCERN .T his pace, set up
ic more poll J u ,' ;l || thc
'^rronsm.satBgbsites as they eame online,
we suicide ■ g| 0 g S | 1avc bec 0me Web sites
tilled ... And® ^6 world. Some are collec-i |
•eliets. HetBjHj 0 p nicm oirs. some daily
ets, includin« ron j c | eSi some political rants
klren earlier collections of deep thoughts. According to an essay by Mallory
sian school, fcson of the Columbia Journalism Review, the most popular blogging
-hikirendidixe teisBlogger.com. which was launched in August 1999 and quickly
44
Even though
a lot of people I
know read (my
blog), I feel a sense
of anonymity be
cause I'm telling it
on the Web, and
not to someone's
face.
— Chris Schock
senior industrial engineering
major
aw ful sufleniL
' the president i:
ledU.N.menr ivnjournals.
Iraq, saying.'
member m: e noticed all of his friends' blogs were serious.
o Prime Mil
st and do mor
raq that is s«
lend and free.
;nt said an
terrorist g
' the main gn
ocent in Irao
eame the largest and best known of its kind.
Many Aggies have jumped on the blog bandwagon and begun their
Vince Mejia, a junior finance major, started his blog as a joke after
Mejia said he likes to goof around a lot on his blog, once even post-
ig a picture of‘Lil John, joking that he was running for Yell Leader,
lejia said his blog is more of a comic outlet and used to promote his
arties, Mejia said.
“I also make up random stories and put funny pictures," he said.
Mejia said that on his blog he also makes fun of other people’s
fogs and records funny Internet conversations.
Chris Schock, a senior industrial engineering major, started his blog
g a campaigi 'May 2001, after he graduated from high school,
nst civilians i| a * ot friends from high school doing that,” Schock said,
of bound n;;'f 0 * a g 0 °d wa y vve could keep in touch.”
J Schock said his blog is mostly about his daily life and issues that he
wants to work out on his own by not discussing in person,
d. ,, I “Ifsgreat to be able to express myself in the way that it allows me
ling to appear,
ontrast,
s killing was
lour of the:
ning he was
to, and to keep up with friends from back home,” he said.
Ashley Cooper, a freshman environmental design major, started her
blog five months ago because her friends said blogging was popular.
“(In it) I can put my feelings into words,” Cooper said.
Mejia said because strangers read it, he doesn’t keep his blog too seri
ous. Blogging can be strange when you look on the list of people who
have read your blog, he said, and strangers are on the list.
“Some people read it that 1 don't even know,” Mejia said. “I IM-ed a
girl who read it, and she’s from Tech. I don’t even know her. She said she
was bored and looking through blogs. It was kind of creepy.”
Schock said the same thing has happened to him and that at first it was
weird, but after having a blog for three years, he has gotten used to it.
“That’s just how the Internet is,” Schock said.
According to a Perseus Development Corporation survey, blogs
have increased from 136,000 blogs in 2000, to 10,300,000 in 2004.
Thirty-nine percent of bloggers are between the ages of 20 and 29,
and 56 percent of the bloggers are women. Mejia thinks the blog
ging trend is due to the fact that blogs are like diaries, but more fun
because users can include pictures and links.
“Blogging is so popular because people always want to read about
what other people are doing,” Mejia said. “People will leave com
ments or come up to me and say it was funny.”
Cooper said she finds it easier to keep up with an online journal
rather than a written one.
“I’m on the Internet anyway, and typing is a lot easier,” Cooper said.
Some students think blogging can become danger
ous with the honesty the forum provides.
Mejia said he rarely talks about
other people on his
blog because he
thinks it is stu
pid to talk about
someone on the
Internet, where ev
eryone can read it.
“I have a lot of friends
whose blogs are really person
al,” Mejia said. “I feel like the Internet
isn't the right place to get personal.”
Cooper said she was once confronted by an ex
boyfriend after posting something about him, which re
sulted in a bad situation.
“Now my parents even read my blog, so I have to be careful,”
Cooper said.
Schock has also experienced some of the consequences of post
ing personal thoughts on his blog.
“When I broke up with my ex-girlfriend. I’d write things,” Schock
said. “It caused a lot of trouble.”
Schock said sometimes he’d use her name, sometimes he wouldn’t.
ft
but both would get him in trouble.
“1 figure those things are going to happen,” Schock said, “but 1
don’t have it for others’ sake. I don’t let it bother me too much.”
Schock said his blog, however, is a skewed view of who he is, and
one cannot get a really good view of his true self. He doesn’t divulge
his whole personality, he said.
“It helps out that even though a lot of people 1 know read it, I feel
a sense of anonymity because I’m still telling it on the Web, not to
someone’s face,” Schock said.
Schock said his blog is also a good archive of how he has grown in
the past three years.
“I’ve gone back and read posts. It’s obvious that I’ve changed,”
he said.
Dr. Brian Doss, an assistant professor in the clinical psychology de
partment, said some people might start blogs for self-disclosure and to
gain attention. If the need for attention gets to an extreme, it is called
histrionic personality disorder, Doss said.
“Not everyone who has a blog has that,” Doss said, “but if someone
has histrionic personality disorder, they might be attracted to blogging.”
Blogs aren’t limited to just students. Amy Earhart, the coordinator
of professional writing and instructional technology in the English
Department, is interested in blogs. She is researching them, looking
into their rhetoric as well as knitting blogs, ones that are devoted to
the art and patterns of knitting. Earhart started her blog out of curios
ity and convenience.
“1 wanted to start a space to share with friends and family who are
not local,” Earhart said.
Blogs are even making
their way into the class
room.
“Some professors use
blogs for classes,” Earhart
said.
These blogs are cre-
I! ated to have a running
f discussion of class that
students can contribute
to as well, Earhart said.
Earhart belongs to a blog
t community of knitters, which she said is
k a great link because it breaks down the
? divides between ages and draws connec
tions between people. Earhart warned
that anyone who has a blog needs to be
able to balance between personal and pri
vate.
“I think it's growing because it’s very easy to
use,” Earhart said. “My mother even started a blog.
If she can do it, anyone can.”
GRAPHIC BY CHRISTOPHER JONES — Tut Battalion
*•*. \-V'-
7
The People Have Spoken!
The Foreigners a
Hilarious Hit!
“Best show I’ve seen since
A Chorus Line!"
Charlene, Tuna, Texas
I swear...even our
sheep were laughing!”
Aunt Pearl, Tuna, Texas
“I laughed so hard, I
dropped my cigarette.”
Didi Snavely, Tuna,Texas
iT-
St
l|
»ES
see will
i have
opying
signs
?tfi -8;
CONGRATULATIONS!
Join the Celebration at the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center
SEPTEMBER 23RD RING DELIVERY
Tickets distributed throughout the day, beginning at 7:15 a.m.
You must have a numbered ticket to get your Aggie Ring.
Festivities begin at 2:30 p.m.
Ring distribution starts at 3 p.m. and ends at 6 p.m.
We encourage you to utilize the “Aggie Ring Shuttle”, which will run from 2:00-6:00
to transport guests to and from PA 100 lots E and F (Tom Chandler Dr., South of
Reed Arena) and The Association.
You must bring your receipt and drivers license
to pick up your Aggie Ring. If you do not have your receipt,
please bring your student ID and drivers license.
Buy Your
Tickets Now!
Call 845-1234.
www.MSCOPAS.org
$20
ticket*
A
MSC
0PAS
enlighten \ entertain \ inspire
| ee those hilarious Tuna guys as you
have never seen them before!
Jaston Williams and Joe Sears, joined by a full
cast, will open the 2004-2005 OPAS season
with Larry Shue’s hit comedy THE FOREIGNER. If
Sears and Williams kept you in stitches as the
outrageous characters of Tuna, you won’t
believe the side-splitting hilarity brought on
when joined by five other comedic actors!
THE FOREIGNER
Starring Jaston Wiliams & Joe Sears
(stars of the Tuna Trilogy) joined by five
other comedic actors!
Friday & Saturday, September 24 & 25
7:30 PM in Rudder Auditorium
* Available in balcony seating only. Limited number of tickets available for each performance. Discount valid at MSC Box
Office only. TAMU student ID required. Limit two tickets per student per performance. No t valid for tickets already purchased.
Offer expires September 25,2004.