Blogging

Thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition of Blogging provides an accessible study of a now everyday phenomenon and places it in a historical, theoretical and contemporary context. The second edition takes into account the most recent research and developments and provides current analyses of new tools for microblogging and visual blogging. Jill Walker Rettberg discusses the ways blogs are integrated into today s mainstream social media ecology, where comments and links from Twitter and Facebook may be more important than the network between blogs that was significant five years ago, and questions the shift towards increased commercialization and corporate control of blogs. The new edition also analyses how smart phones with cameras and social media have led a shift towards more visual emphasis in blogs, with photographs and graphics increasingly foregrounded. Authored by a scholar-blogger, this engaging book is packed with examples that show how blogging and related genres are changing media and communication. It gives definitions and explains how blogs work, shows how blogs relate to the historical development of publishing and communication and looks at the ways blogs structure social networks.

Thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition of Bloggingprovides an accessible study of a now everyday phenomenon andplaces it in a historical, theoretical and contemporary context.The second edition takes into account the most recent research anddevelopments and provides current analyses of new tools formicroblogging and visual blogging.Jill Walker Rettberg discusses the ways blogs are integrated intotoday's mainstream social media ecology, where comments andlinks from Twitter and Facebook may be more important than thenetwork between blogs that was significant five years ago, andquestions the shift towards increased commercialization andcorporate control of blogs. The new edition also analyses how smartphones with cameras and social media have led a shift towards morevisual emphasis in blogs, with photographs and graphicsincreasingly foregrounded.Authored by a scholar-blogger, this engaging book is packed withexamples that show how blogging and related genres are changingmedia and communication. It gives definitions and explains howblogs work, shows how blogs relate to the historical development ofpublishing and communication and looks at the ways blogs structuresocial networks.

Acknowledgements viiIntroduction 11 What is a Blog? 5A brief history of weblogs 6How blogs have adapted to a social media ecosystem 14Three blogs 17Defining blogs 302 From Bards to Blogs 36Orality and literacy 37The introduction of print 41Print, blogging and reading 44Printed precedents of blogs 45The Late Age of Print 47A modern public sphere? 50Hypertext and computer lib 53Technological determinism or cultural shaping of technology?573 Blogs, Communities and Networks 62Social network theory 66Distributed conversations 69Technology for distributed communities 72Facebook and Twitter as microblogs 76Publicly articulated relationships 82Colliding networks 83Emerging social networks 864 Citizen Journalists? 90Bloggers' perception of themselves 93When it matters whether a blogger is a journalist 94Objectivity, authority and credibility 97First-hand reports: blogging from a war zone 101First-hand reports: chance witnesses 104Bloggers as independent journalists and opinionists 107Gatewatching 108Symbiosis 1125 Blogs as Narratives 115Goal-oriented narratives 116Ongoing and episodic narration 118Blogs as self-exploration 127Fictions or hoaxes? Kaycee Nicole and lonelygirl15 1296 Blogging Brands 135The human voice 136Advertisements and sponsored posts on blogs 139Micropatronage 145Sponsored posts and pay-to-post 147Exploitation and alienation? 152Corporate blogs 155Engaging bloggers 161Corporate blogging gone wrong 1647 The Future of Blogging 169Implicit participation and the perils of personalized media170References 176Blogs Mentioned 186Index 189