it's taken some time for me to gather the info that i needed for this blog post. i had to do my fair share of research, which basically included me stumbling across some fantastic blogs, and procrastinating for hours, scrolling through them and calling it 'research'. there's some pretty amazing stuff out there, including incredible stories about people becoming micro-celebrities from the unique topics they blogged about. whether it be about everyday life, all types of food, bars & restaurants, celebrities, politics, animals, personal lives.. people blog about everything and the public LOVES reading it.
take for example bakerella. Angie Dudley started this blog as a way to keep track of her baking and decorating attempts. then, on one fine day, she posted a picture of 'cake pops' - crumbled cake mixed with frosting into little balls, placed on a stick and intricately decorated. the pictures went viral and since then, she has been creating gorgeous, themed little cake pops for all types of events. she now has contracts with disney, her own business and just released her first cake pop recipe book.
on the other end of the spectrum, there's spain's blogging grandmother - Maria Amelia Lopez started blogging at the spritely young age of of 95, discussing the past and present on going's of her life. she received over 1.7 million hits until she passed away 2 years later, but constantly urged elderly people worldwide to experience the blogging phenomenon; she says it 'changed her life'.
and on the celebrity front, well, who doesn't know perez hilton? he started off blogging as a hobby, and chose celebrities as a topic because he thought following their luxurious lives was intriguing. his blogging style as a critic and 'bitch' was unique, he dished the dirt on celebrity lifestyles and the public couldn't get enough. his blog is now one of the most popular celeb sites and he has a strong following, including many who provide him with information from anonymous sources.
the one thing which struck me most about all these blogs was the followings they received and the way people have responded to them. no matter what is published, the public are given the opportunity to comment - you guys reading this have the right to comment on what i say - whether your opinion be positive or negative! it takes 'freedom of speech' to a whole new level and raises so many questions, and for a young journo student like me, i can't help but wonder if there is a future for journalists, when tv stations have already provided the public with a mobile number for people to txt or pxt any news they come across in the street! citizen journalism has most certainly hit a high point, and it most certainly has something to do with a generation raised on instant gratification. we have to have our news, gossip, updates NOW and whilst we are consistently kept up to date with the society we live in, the quality of the stories and info we come across has to be questioned.
so, while i can see that citizen journalism has it's pro's & con's... i'll leave the definitive answer up to you.
bakerella: www.bakerella.com
maria lopez: amis95.blogspot.com
perez hilton: perezhilton.com
I will start by referring to the latter part of the post...i agree with the suggestion that there might not be a future for journalist, although there will always be people wanting to read the newspapers on newsstands. As someone who wants to be a journalist, i would not want to be involved in only writing articles for people online to see. Leaning towards PR now, it is good to see that i am not the only one that realises that journalists jobs are on the decline.
ReplyDeleteAs technology develops, the younger generations are becoming more involved in online communication, yet it is funny to note how a 95 year old grandmother has made it a pastime of her's (can you imagine her dropping dead at her computer?). The concept of "Overblogged" and "Blog after blog after blog..." is entirely true (and a great choice), i have a Twitter account, which i rarely use, whereas, some of the celebrities i follow have to update every time they make a move (i mean who cares what they are having for breakfast).