Weblogs: June 2007 Archive Page

The division is cleanest in communities where the predator panic hit before MySpace became popular. In much of the midwest, teens heard about Facebook and MySpace at the same time. They were told that MySpace was bad while Facebook was key for college students seeking to make friends at college. I go into schools where the school is split between the Facebook users and the MySpace users. On the coasts and in big cities, things are more murky than elsewhere. MySpace became popular through the bands and fans dynamic before the predator panic kicked in. Its popularity on the coasts and in the cities predated Facebook's launch in high schools. Many hegemonic teens are still using MySpace because of their connections to participants who joined in the early days, yet they too are switching and tend to maintain accounts on both. For the hegemonic teens in the midwest, there wasn't a MySpace to switch from so the "switch" is happening much faster. None of the teens are really switching from Facebook to MySpace, although there are some hegemonic teens who choose to check out MySpace to see what happens there even though their friends are mostly on Facebook. --danah boyd --Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace (danah.org)

I personally find boyd's use of a lowercase logo for a name to be be right up there with Prince's use of an unpronounceable symbol and the star in "Wal*Mart," but I gather it makes her seem more approachable to the young people whose online habits she observes so carefully (and analyzes so well).

I graduated from SHU this may and I took your American Literature course in Spring 2004. I just wanted to write you an e-mail because I came across my own blog while doing a search on the internet and I starting reading through them. I must admit, I HATED doing them during class because it was a lot of work, but what a final product. I was so impressed that I could have created something so technical and computer literate. I was astounded to see that people are still commenting on my entries, three years after the fact! How cool! I hope you are continuing to use blogs because it obviously gets out there and lets our thoughts at SHU be heard. I also would like to comment on my grade in the class and it being 1 of 2 Bs that I received throughout my college career. I still am confused about the grade, considering I had all As on my papers. I was unaware at the time it could have been a mistake and I did not want to challenge you. I just thought I must have failed the final miserably. O well. I enjoyed your class, even though I got a B! lol Keep up the good work!blogs [e-mail from a former student] (Jerz's LIteracy Weblog)

I got this note from a recent graduate, and have posted it here with permission. It's always a great feeling when a student says he or she worked hard, learned a lot, and enjoyed the class.

And this student is right -- entries that my students wrote as homework are still attracting attention, especially at the end of the semester as students are working on term papers. Sometimes the comments are simply requests like "This story is boring, will someone e-mail me what it's supposed to mean," but often a visitor will post a thoughtful comment that attempts to extend the discussion.

A Courier-Journal sports reporter had his media credential revoked and was ordered to leave the press box during the NCAA baseball super-regional yesterday because of what the NCAA alleged was a violation of its policies prohibiting live Internet updates from its championship events. --Rick Bozich --Courier-Journal reporter ejected from U of L game: Bennett removed for blogging super-regional (Courier-Journal)

I'm posting this version because I find it interesting that, when the Courier-Journal reported on the incident, it emphasized the involvement of the paper, while when this story attracts the blogosphere, it will be the identity of the reporter as a staff blogger that gives the story legs.

It's unusual for a newspaper to interview its own staff members, but the paper's executive editor, Bernie L. Ivory, gets a few good zingers about First Amendment rights, and a lawyer-friendly response to a claim that the NCAA threatened to punish the University of Louisville if officials did not revoke the reporter's press pass: "If that's true, that's nothing short of extortion and thuggery."

The Courier-Journal carefully included the "If that's true" part of Ivory's quote, which is a good hedge against future accusations of libel. (See this current story about how selective quoting made Edwards sound like he was talking about the Paris Hilton saga, when in fact he twice said he wasn't talking about her.)

The reporter was warned before the game that if he blogged during the game, it was in violation of NCAA policies. He consulted his editors, and went ahead and blogged anyway.

According to the Courier-Journal, staff blogger Brian Bennett was approached by NCAA officials in the fifth inning of a game between the University of Lousville and Oklahoma State, told that blogging "from an NCAA championship event 'is against NCAA policies (and) we're revoking the (press) credential and need to ask you to leave the stadium.'"

In its article, the Courier-Journal quoted its executive editor, Bennie Ivory, as saying, "It's clearly a First Amendment issue. This is part of the evolution of how we present the news to our readers. It's what we did during the Orange Bowl. It's what we did during the NCAA basketball tournament. It's what we do." --Blogger removed from NCAA baseball game for blogging (C|Net)

Cutler has spent much of her time fending off a lawsuit by ex- boyfriend and fellow DeWine staffer Robert Steinbuch, who claims Cutler's blog publicly humiliated him. He is seeking more than $20 million in damages.

[...]

The lawsuit is being closely watched by online privacy groups and bloggers because the case could help establish whether people who keep online diaries are obligated to protect the privacy of the people they interact with offline. --Sex Blogger Files for Bankruptcy (Breitbart | AP)

This is a great find. I'm a student (with a full time job), who uses the web a lot in my research. I've found that there are many insightful comments out there, but failed to use them due to 1) fear of not properly citing them 2) fear that they will be rejected as credible sources. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized that my current paper really needs to cite a few comments in order to make some points. Thanks again![Submitted Comment] (Jerz's Literacy Weblog)

The above is the text of a comment that someone submitted to an old blog entry about how to cite weblog comments in MLA style.

I didn't publish it, because the URL supplied by the poster was the home page of a company that offers search-engine optimization services. In the space where the name was supposed to be, the poster added some Google-friendly keywords.

A hand-made personalized commercial message may not fit the strict definition of spam, but it's still an unwelcome submission.