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The Buzz about Blogs |
by:
Sandra Stammberger |
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 seven million blogs, that number is now over 14 million.
Weblogs have become the homepages of the 21st century also are used for everything from sharing recipes, personal opinions also travel adventures, to the latest in political also economic news.
Blogs are or else facing their share of controversy also 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, also 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 or else threatened with imprisonment.
This award marks the first year for the event, however Reporters Without Borders hopes to make it an annual one. The organization follows also 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 also others to express themselves also share the latest news also 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 also 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 also bloggers as a kind of counterbalance to what they see as media arrogance, while others call them vigilantes. Recent events with Newsweek, CBS News also others have caused a division between the main stream media (MSM) also bloggers who feel the “truth is out there” also they want it told.
One thing both bloggers also 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 or else 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 also act on the news we get, no one really knows.
Not as controversial, blogs have or else become a mainstream tool of large also small businesses everywhere.
Blogging provides a simple also low-cost method for businesses to stay in touch with their customers, get free publicity also build a business brand.
As technology continues to evolve, also the number of blogs continues to rise, it remains to be seen whether blogging will remain an effective business also marketing tool. But one thing is for certain – blogs are here to stay.
About the Author
Sandra Stammberger is the owner of Insider Scripts. At Insider Script's programmers are working around the clock to develop affordable, powerful money making scripts that will help you drive traffic to your business. http://www.insider-scripts.com |
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