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The
Buzz about Blogs
The “blogosphere”
is continuing to grow at an amazing pace. In fact, the
number of published blogs is expected to double about
every five months.
Right now, there is a new blog published
every second, according to Technorati, the search engine
that keeps track of Weblogs. In March there were over
7 million blogs, that number is now over 14 million.
Weblogs have become the homepages of
the 21st century and are used for everything from sharing
recipes, personal opinions and travel adventures, to
the latest in political and economic news.
Blogs are also facing their share of
controversy and praise. Reporters Without Borders recently
published their “short list” of the seven
best blogs out of 60, which won the “Freedom Blog
Awards” for defending freedom of expression.
Winners (who are chosen by the public
who vote for their favorite blogs) included “Shared
Pains” which describes life in Afghan, and Mojtaba
Saminejad, an Iranian whose blog is published in the
Farsi language. (He received a two-year prison sentence
in 2005 because of his blog). Another winner, Jeff Ooi,
publishes the Malaysian blog “Screenshots”
which is in English. Because he allowed a comment on
his blog back in 2004 which reportedly “insulted
Islam” according to authorities, he was also threatened
with imprisonment.
This award marks the first year for
the event, but Reporters Without Borders hopes to make
it an annual one. The organization follows and reports
on freedom of the press around the world.
In oppressive countries, such as Iran
(which shut down almost all independent newspapers in
2000), blogs have provided a way for journalists and
others to express themselves and share the latest news
and happenings. But speaking up in such places often
has serious consequences, such as one blogger in Iraq
who was jailed by authorities after speaking up about
what was simply a local problem.
China is another repressive area. Recently
Chinese authorities declared that all bloggers had to
register their blogs with them, or risk being shut down.
To help combat these and similar problems
around the world, organizations are being set up to
provide global support among bloggers for those who
are being repressed.
One of the biggest controversies right
now, is whether bloggers should receive “journalistic”
status. Some people see blogs and bloggers as a kind
of counterbalance to what they see as media arrogance,
while others call them vigilantes. Recent events with
Newsweek, CBS News and others have caused a division
between the main stream media (MSM) and bloggers who
feel the “truth is out there” and they want
it told.
One thing both bloggers and the mainstream
media agree on, is that things have been forever changed.
The tools of mass media are no longer the property of
the press alone, they’re also freely available
to the people. What that means to us in the future,
or what changes blogs will bring about to the way we
receive and act on the news we get, no one really knows.
Not as controversial, blogs have also
become a mainstream tool of large and small businesses
everywhere.
Blogging provides a simple and low-cost
method for businesses to stay in touch with their customers,
get free publicity and build a business brand.
As technology continues to evolve, and
the number of blogs continues to rise, it remains to
be seen whether blogging will remain an effective business
and marketing tool. But one thing is for certain –
blogs are here to stay.
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