What is a blog : - A blog is an online diary, or a place to announce something a blogger has achieved to the world, I can also be used as a political soapbox. A blog is similar to a forum, however a blog entries are posted in reverse chronological order, each blog entry can be replied to by other people posting their opinions on the currant subject or topic. Web blogging was created by Jorn Barger in 1997, however the term blog was used by Peter Merholtz in 1999. Blogs originally weren’t very popular, however the usage of blogs spread during and after 1999 and became more popular. As of today there are several million blogs, posted on the internet.
Bloggers Code of Conduct? : - in 2007 Tim O’Reilly proposed a Bloggers code of conduct to ensure bloggers are civil towards other bloggers and people, and to moderate their comments.
This is the proposed Code of Conduct:
Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
Ignore the trolls.
Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say in person.
This code of conduct is from Wikipedia url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger%27s_Code_of_Conduct
Advantages of Blogs : - There are many advantages of blogs the main one is everyone can use it, you can use it to talk about anything you want, you can use from expressing opinions or to discussing something you’ve achieved. Because anyone can use blogs it also means anyone can see your blogs, bloggers can also look for other bloggers blogs on the same topic as them using search engines like www.technorati.com
Disadvantages of Blogs : - the main disadvantage of blogs is people misuse them, by using them to insult or accuse them of something they may or may not of done, this is referred to deformation of character, the deformations may not have come from the person who created a blog but from a person replying in a blog. It the blogger who created the blog does not remove or moderate this then the blogger is also misusing blogs by not taking responsibility for the blogs posts. If a person does not moderate their blogs then it can lead to fines or action against the blogger.
My opinions on blogs : - My opinion of blogs is that they can be vey useful, for people who want to get breaking news across or discussing a topic of political nature as long as don’t start accusing governments or people for something that has happened. It is also good for average or new users to discuss something they have found out or have something in common, this can lead to friendships between bloggers.
However blogs can be used for ill means, especially when they are used to attack a fellow blogger/colleague/institution or government, since this is deformation of character criminal action can be taken, it also puts a burden on the blog creator to review all the posts making sure no one is abusing the blog.
So it is my opinion that blogs should be used to communicate with other bloggers and discuss topics or points of interest al long as they are not misused.
