{"id":67,"date":"2012-09-06T01:08:37","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T06:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/summysays.wordpress.com\/?p=10"},"modified":"2012-09-06T01:08:37","modified_gmt":"2012-09-06T06:08:37","slug":"blogging-%e2%80%99bout-blogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/2012\/09\/blogging-%e2%80%99bout-blogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogging \u2019bout Blogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first step to master the art of blogging is reading blogs. As a class, we selected five widely read blogs to see how this unique niche authors achieved blogosphere domination. The blogs I\u2019ll be following cover a wide range of interests: politics, environmental issues, health and wellness, and technology. Besides Tumblr (my dashboard is mainly of a constant stream of Harry Potter, Dr. Who and cat images), I\u2019ve never consistently read a blog. By examining these five established blog authors, I hope to learn the ins-and-outs of blogging in the real world.<\/p>\n

With the DNC and Michelle Obama\u2019s amazingly toned arms on everybody\u2019s radar this week, I\u2019ll start with Howard Fineman on the original aggregate wunderblog, The Huffington Post<\/em>. Through an elegant and understated black-and-white portrait, Fineman\u2019s thin-rimmed glasses and confident smile have already assured me that he is to be trusted. His most recent blogpost is titled \u201cWhere Are the \u201cOver the Transom\u201d Voters<\/a>?\u201d Seeing as I don\u2019t know what transom means (is this an idiom?), this is as good a place as any to start learning blogo-lingo. He writes in a very straightforward, journalistic-style manner; statistics, expert quotes and direct comparisons to the 2008 election give the reader a sense of reading the news. However, unlike the news, the post\u2019s ultimate goal is not merely to inform but also to mobilize Democratic voters to act with a sense of urgency. Where\u2019s that \u201cspontaneous enthusiasm\u201d that rallied the campaign of 2008? Which reminds me, why haven\u2019t I heard \u201crock the vote\u201d in four years? As an added bonus, there\u2019s a fun Electoral Predictor that forecasts a Democrat beatdown this November. Still don\u2019t know what a transom is.<\/p>\n

As predicted, Andrew Sullivan\u2019s conservative blog on The Daily Beast<\/em> called \u201cThe Dish\u201d takes quite a different take on the DNC. Unfortunately I haven\u2019t been keeping up with the goings-on of the party conventions, so I appreciate his play-by-play breakdown of the event. Sullivan mixes humor into his posts, such as Face of the Day<\/a> Richard Trumka, which really gives the blog its flavor. In my opinion, he stays pretty balanced throughout his breakdown, generally giving credit where credit is due. For example: \u201cWhat’s great about Clinton’s speech: he has taken on the opposing argument directly.\u201d\u00a0As the HuffPo Guide to Blogging <\/em>recommends, Sullivan uses a chatty tone throughout; my dad calling out the play-by-play of a basketball game from the living room would sound the same way (with some Chinese sprinkled in). He summarizes the night nicely for those who aren\u2019t politically inclined and breaks it up with some music reviews every Friday.<\/p>\n

After these politics blogs, it\u2019s time to move on to lighthearted topics, such as the state of emergency that our climate is in, and\u2014what\u2019s this? Nearly every headline on David Roberts\u2019 blog at The Grist<\/em> involves the election! I suppose this makes sense, given that our best chance for survival relies on vast structural change. Roberts writes with a very accessible tone that exudes his unique voice. Besides the political commentary, I\u2019m particularly struck by a story about a mountaintop mining protest<\/a> featuring raw, first-hand commentary from the front lines of an important issue. As an environmental activist-in-training, I have a lot to learn from this blog and am eager to read more of this journalism from the sidelines. He combines mountaintop mining research with the stories of the people, the personal with the political, ultimately refreshing an issue that has been completely ignored in the news.<\/p>\n

I enjoy reading The New York Times<\/em>\u2019 wellness blog, Well, more for its content than style of writing. Each story is interesting and offers totally new information to me. Perhaps because of the paper\u2019s rock-solid brand, I\u2019m thinking of the Well stories more as \u201carticles\u201d than \u201cposts\u201d. The latest article compares conventional and organic foods. I\u2019ve tried to become a vegetarian for years, each guilt-induced attempt spurred on by a PETA booklet passed out in the mail or a convicting viewing of Food, Inc<\/em>.. But every time I\u2019ve fallen prey to a moist, flavorful turkey leg or juicy rack of ribs smothered in barbecue sauce and falling off the bone. I know the basic health and environmental benefits that come with eating vegan, at least vegetarian and at the very<\/em> least, organic. I\u2019m fascinated by one story in particular, a glimpse into the life of a 25-year-old woman during the one week a month that she receives chemotherapy treatment<\/a> for leukemia.\u00a0From what I can tell, she isn\u2019t afraid to include even seemingly unimportant details about these days, and it really pays off in her credibility as the storyteller as well as its intrigue.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Gizmodo\u2019s blog focuses on the latest technology from around the world. I\u2019m not big on technology current events, but I still appreciate the blog for its comprehensive scope. Today it highlights the failure of Nokia to fully realize the potential of its iPhone alternative, the Lumia 920<\/a>. Many of the articles on Gizmodo are tailored to the reader\u2014\u201cthe first thing you notice about the Lumia 920\u2026but then you notice the rest of it\u2026\u201d which makes me feel like part of the conversation. Interestingly, rather than the typical comment-by-comment format, Gizmodo arranges comments into two columns, giving it the appearance of a newspaper rather than an online forum.<\/p>\n

I look forward to staying tuned to these blogs. I already feel more informed about the election, became suspicious of organic food<\/a>, and even got the chance to diagnose a patient whose skin was slowly turning blue<\/a>. I\u2019ll let you know which blog becomes my favorite in the near future. Until then, there\u2019s a lot of Gizmodo to read.<\/p>\n

Signing out,<\/p>\n

Sums<\/p>\n

P.S. \u201cOver the transom\u201d refers to the nautical term for the back of a small boat. Something which “came in over the transom” would have suddenly (and presumably, surprisingly) entered through the “back door” of the craft.<\/em> So there you have it. But now the obvious question remains: just how willing is America to surprise Obama in the back of his nautical craft? We\u2019ll know on November 6.<\/p>\n

\"i'm<\/p>\n

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Legal photo ID required to board craft<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first step to master the art of blogging is reading blogs. As a class, we selected five widely read blogs to see how this unique niche authors achieved blogosphere domination. The blogs I\u2019ll be following cover a wide range … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a>\"\" Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1012,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}