A blog I can't believe I have never mentioned is Postsecret. It is not only one of the most entertaining blog sites I have visited (due to the brutal honesty), but it is shocking and even disturbing at times. More to the point, Postsecret is a prime example of many of the internet/media concepts we have described, all put together. It is the opportunity for people to embrace anonymity to take the chance to express themselves in ways they are unable to normally/in person. It gives them the chance to reveal secrets and get them off their chest in a way that is both safe (to their identities) and therapeutic.

With abundant digital medias and technologies at our disposal, we should know how to distinguish advantageous features from excessive ones. Since these items are highly advertised and their abilities are constantly updated, the judgment is hard to make. An example of this technology is the GPS, a mobile navigational system. Installed in vehicles of customers who opt for this choice, the GPS interacts with users by mapping out their destinations with directions on its screen or through an automated voice.

It seems convenient. I know that my own directional skills could stand extra assistance on the road. The GPS navigational system is a very useful and revolutionary way that society has combined information with technology. Yet it is sometimes the easy way out that does not lead us anywhere beneficial.

i don't know how many of you have read/seen the LA times magazine this week, but it has an article on a girl named cory kennedy. coincidentally, she is from southern california like i am, and even more coincidentally, her best friend/business partner went to high school with sarikayla.

anyway, cory kennedy is a 16 year old pseudo celebrity with a blog, myspace, and fansites all over europe, documenting her status as a "fashion icon," and socialite. she is essentially the 16 year old paris hilton (whom, coincidentially, she has been photographed with numerous times).

My midterm project will cover the blog forum aspect of Sparknotes, a website we have probably all used at some point in high school to supplement or even substitute class reading. Sparknotes takes the traditional Cliffsnotes to a whole new level by offering not only summaries and analyses, but features such as practice reading quizzes, lists of symbols and metaphors, character analyses, and many more tools that have aided vast groups of readers and provided them the fast/convenient solution they have sought.

I will be examining how the readers/users of Sparknotes treat the website like a blog through the way they submit more information about the discussed novels and write their own reviews and comments about what they have grasped from site's information, and how helpful it has been to them. They can also ask questions about books, or make requests to add information on certain books to the website.

It's no question that for nearly any area of interest, there are not one but many relevant blogs. The blogging phenomenon has moved to cover everything from business to shoes, offering wider and wider ranges for increasingly larger audiences. And because the large audience of internet viewers is also hitting at younger and younger ages, children and young teenagers are introduced to both the benefits and harms of such internet content.

In some ways, it is advantageous for our technological enhancements to be available to children, as they are learning for the first times in their lives how to seek information and fulfil specific tasks. I know that if I had known about Wikipedia or even search engines like Google when I was in middle and lower school, I would have been much more fortunate.

If asked what a "blog" was during my younger years of high school, I would have answered with an uncertain reference to political forums for "older" people such as my parents, dedicated readers of The Huffington Post. When my peers (and in turn, myself) discovered such blogging phenomenons as livejournal and myspace, as mentioned in many of the other blogs on our class site, I was first taken aback by how intrusive it seemed to have such open information on the internet at the public's disposal. What I learned from reading my more blog-savvy friends' entries is that blogs are actually sometimes better used to disguise personal information and thoughts because they allow the writer to identify with anything. The openness and even anonymity of blogs are opportunitites to present ourselves exactly how we choose with the option to add, omit, embellish, or censor our characters and lifestyles. Many blogs are even tailored to the reception of comments and responses, and writers keep their readers in mind when deciding what to include or not. Blogs warrant attention, controversy, sympathy, or any other response solicitated by their writers.