Blogoshere
In today’s world where everyone is connected through technology, blogging and social networking sites have become a popular pastime
By Anna Young, contributing writer
Posted on Setpember 18, 2006

A new blog is created every second and the realm of blog sites is an expansive 60 times larger than it was about three years ago, according to Dave Sifry, creator of “State of the Blogosphere.” Web logs, or blogs, as they’ve been termed, have existed since the Internet’s early days, but over the past few years, use and recognition of these blogs has skyrocketed.

A blog, sometimes referred to as an online diary or journal, allows just about anyone with an Internet connection to enjoy posting updates about their lives. They can also create or participate in networks of other bloggers, and form a web of contribution, by leaving and receiving comments throughout their networks.

Most blog sites boast free membership and other perks like instant messaging and picture hosting. Perhaps these endless amenities contribute to the worldwide craze of blogging.

Blogging has become a part of everyday life, especially for younger generations. We’re all guilty — at least the majority of us are. We’re proud members of such sites like Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, Flickr or the like.

We’ve also slipped into conversations that bring blog happenings out of the virtual world and into our person-to-person encounters. Dialogue can include “Hey, did you see that party so-and-so posted? Are you going?” or, “I tagged some pictures last night, did you see them?” or, “I can’t believe only two people responded to the bulletin I posted.”

Out of the 6.5 billion people in the world, just over 1 million people belong to the popular blog site, Myspace.com. The JMU community has not hesitated to take advantage of the accommodations of Myspace.

For instance, numerous a cappella groups around campus like Exit 245,  Madison Project,  The BluesTones and Note-oriety, take advantage of Myspace’s music division to promote their recorded songs and publicize their upcoming shows.

In spite of its recent disputed facelift, Facebook is quite the popular blog site, particularly for college or high school networks. Groups like “I Bleed Purple” and “Class of 2010” are generated on Facebook to bring JMU students of common interests or qualities together in intricate networks.

Blog use doesn’t just stop at sites like MySpace or Facebook, however. Blogger.com permits its users to host their blogs on their own servers, instead of one large base, to allow the bloggers to create their own independent sites. WXJM 88.7 FM, the student-run radio station at JMU, recently constructed a Web site and corresponding blog through blogger.com to promote its cause of promoting “independent, new and under-represented artists in the music industry,” according to wxjmradio.com.

The station started a blog site so its DJs and other station affiliates could advertise their shows, post play lists or any other interesting bits of information they want to share with the Internet world.

Blogging doesn’t have to include writing; it can also include picture or video sharing. Sites like Flickr allow those with a Yahoo account (existing, or newly created) to post amateur or professional photography, establish sets or groups of pictures, and create comments on other’s photos.

The Office of Institutional Research at JMU, directed by Dr. Frank Doherty, has pioneered a new program for first-year students to use Flickr to post and comment on pictures from their first-year experiences, so OIR can help enhance the life of JMU freshmen.

The life of blogs has greatly evolved, from their birth in the early 1990s to today. Whether you’re sharing your life through writing or media sharing, you are proud part of the biggest Internet network, the mighty “Blogosphere.”