Blogs
The word “blog” comes from the combination of web log. The blog was the first important Web 2.0 application. Blogs are online diaries or journals. They share some aspects of newspapers and many newspapers now include blogs on their online sites. Blogs are also used by literary writers and can be considered a genre of digital literature.
Blogs are Web 2.0 applications in that they are published on the web, and allow for interaction between author and reader in the form of comments. They also allow for interaction between different blogs by way of pingbacks and trackbacks. Blogs rely on RSS (“Really Simple Syndication”) technology in which information is published in frequently updated feeds. In blogs, information is organized by category and date (rather than page or chapter).
Blogs had their heyday from approximately 2000 to 2008. During this time, thousands of people created blogs each day. The term “blogosphere” was created around this time to describe the quickly expanding part of the web devoted to blogging. Since 2008, however, blogs have been eclipsed by Facebook and Twitter.
Here are a few places online where you can create a blog for free:
In the context of this class: Blogs are remediations of diaries and newspapers and are typically multimedia in format. They are hypertextual in that they allow the reader to access the material from different points at his or her pace; like digital poetry and interactive fiction, they are highly interactive.
Flogs
Flogs are fake or fiction blogs. The term “flog” was first used in the context of fake blogs created as part of viral advertising campaigns. Often flogs come in the form of celebrity parody (or character) blogs. The term also includes blogs devoted to publishing fiction, in either anthology or serial format. Some writers use blogs to reflect upon the craft and art of writing. Writers also use the blog format to create original literary works and these too are flogs.
The following are examples of flogs.
Corporate Flog: “Walmarting Across America” (2006)
This was a blog in which two regular people, Jim and Laura, chronicled their travels across America in their RV visiting various Wal-Mart stores. They were later “outed” as employees of a marketing firm hired by Wal-Mart.
See: “Wal-Mart’s Jim and Laura: The Real Story“ by Pallavi Gogoi in Bloomberg Businessweek (9 October 2006)
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2006/db20061009_579137.htm
Celebrity Flog: “Fake Steve Jobs”
http://www.fakesteve.net/
This is the grand-daddy of celebrity flogs, authored by Daniel Lyons (though his identity was not known for some time), and published regularly from 2006 to January 2011. This was just one celebrity flog featuring figures in the tech sector. Soon after “Fake Steve Jobs” began publishing, fake blogs for Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates (both Microsoft), Michael Dell (Dell), and Mark Cuban appeared.
also:
“Donald Trump’s Blog”
http://www.newsgroper.com/donald-trump
This is just one celebrity parody blog at a site called Newsgroper. Like a lot of such blogs, it is now “on hiatus.” Nothing new has been posted since 2009.
Fiction Anthology Blog: “Name Your Tale: 100-Word Stories Based on Your Titles”
http://www.nameyourtale.com
This flog is a collection of short fiction published on a blog. This makes it a publishing platform rather than a work of literature in itself.
Other such flogs at: http://www.blogcatalog.com/category/writing/fiction
Writer’s Journal Blog: “Tribal Writer”
http://www.tribalwriter.com
This is a flog by Justine Musk in which she writes about the creative and professional aspects of writing process. Like other such blogs, it is also something of an industry/self-help blog (for writers).
Other such flogs at: http://www.blogcatalog.com/category/writing/fiction
Fiction Flog: “Our Cloverdale”
http://ourcloverdale.blogspot.com
This is a humorous fiction blog that shows the daily life in a small fictional town.
Other such flogs at: http://www.blogcatalog.com/category/writing/fiction
Fiction Flog: “Horton’s Folly”
http://hortonsfolly.blogspot.com
This is a fictional character blog set in Scotland. It tells the wacky adventures of Mr. Horton Carew. It is a fiction blog in that it uses all aspects of the blog to create its sense of literary illusion (using, for instance, the profile, comments, and links, as well as various navigational options).
Flog Directories:
Web Fiction Guide
http://webfictionguide.com
Blog Catalog (fiction)
http://www.blogcatalog.com/category/writing/fiction/
