RUNNING HEAD: Final Paper Theory

Gina Lampasona
Final Paper Theory
Current Issues in Social Media COMM 5007
December 19, 2014

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Blogging has become the newest form of electronic mass communication (Beckman,
Marks, 64). Blogs are a very inexpensive way to gain viewers and speak freely about subjects.
This social platform gives us the opportunity to interact with people from all over the world, and
offers us a convenient medium throughout. Blogging encompasses both the need for individual
self-expression and the possibility for revenue or saving (Beckman, Mark, 68). Blogs have
spoken about news, social events, entertainment media, corporate information and personal
topics.
One mistake people make about bloggers is that they are journalists. I do believe that
bloggers do encompass some qualities of journalists but there is a huge difference between the
two. Bloggers bring out the emotions in their writing while journalists are expected to be
unemotional about latest news and events. The lack of emotion they expect bloggers to have is
impossible because a blog itself stems from passion (Schechter, 94). Given these connections
Lowewenstein is making about the role blogging now plays throughout the world, it is
significant that many news organizations that initially criticized bloggers as not being real
journalists have now opened their pages to their staff blogs in a mode of, if you cant fight them,
join them (Schechter, 94). In reality news stations that create blogs can fundamentally change
the way in which we receive and relate to the news.
It has recently been used to attract people and students at many colleges and universities
as well. Blogs are a rapidly growing trend in higher education that university officials are
discovering that student blogs offer a look inside college life in a way typical campus websites
cannot (Rudolph, Sweetser, 1). Many university websites are designed to attract students to want
to go there though what really attracts many new students is hearing from others how great of a
time they had there. Student blogs gives the student body a chance to express their college

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experiences for not only each other to read but for external recruitment as well. For Kean it
would be a great opportunity for our Union students to interact with students in China as well as
Kean Ocean. It would be another added way for our students to interact more globally.
According to Rudolph and Sweetser student recruitment has to have personalization and
timing. Blogging gives students that personal one on one interaction that a regular website
cannot give them. If you allow students the access to make something their own they make it a
priority to be the very best. It gives the student body a sense of ownership and pride which in
turn generates school pride. Its a very informal way for university community to communicate
their experiences and thoughts. It can be an extension of a classroom, where discussions are
continued and where every student gets an equal voice (Flatley, 77). This does so by letting users
post text, images, audio, and video onto the web without much technical know-how or support
(Stelter, 1).
The benefits of blogging are endless however there are a few I would like to highlight
upon. The first is that students will become more knowledgeable about the topic of their blog,
develop a voice with their writing and they apply journalism skills to a whole new media
platform (Stelter, 1). Many universities dont realize that it is not just about socialization on the
web but they are actually enhancing their students writing. According to Javis of
Buzzmachine.com, Blogging is just the worlds easiest content publishing software, but it
enables so much more. They become sharper writers and better researchers. Though blogs
enhance another skill that journalism itself does not which is listening. Blogs create connections
between reporters and readers (Stelter, 2). In this case it would create those connections between
students as well as prospective students.

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When teaching about blogging however you must instill in your young bloggers that
although these are media platforms that are in the public you must treat it with care. It can create
a permeate record on the internet that must be highly explained to any student blogging for the
university. Harvard University has added an extra step where the blog is submitted and then
reviewed and either approved or denied for publishing. Student would just need to know that the
content of a blog could come back to haunt them if they took advantage of it (Stelter, 2).
Lastly blogs are becoming more and more popular as a company need as well. Jonathan
Schwartz, president and CEO of Sun Microsystems, has said a blog is a must-have tool for every
executive and as mandatory as a phone and an e-mail account. He and other business executives
cite its value in getting their messages out as well as in networking (Flatley, 77). Flatley speaks
about how the most interesting aspects of blogs are with the two way communication form that it
enables. It gives the readers ability to comment on posts and interact with the reader as well as
others.
With more than 12 million American adults maintaining a blog and more than 57 million
people reading these blogs it is apparent that blogs are not just a trend in todays society but
more of a worldwide change (Schechter, 93). It gives both readers and writers the chance to
express themselves anywhere at any time. Blogs can be a source of social interactions or it can
be a place where new ideas are formulated through collaboration (Flatley, 77). Whatever the
topic one message is clear, blogs are here to enhance our way of communicating globally and
just another step toward our technology driven world.

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5
References

Beckman, J., & Marks, N. (2009). "I Need to Communicate with Many People": The Low Cost
Opportunities given by Blogging. Romanian Journal Of Journalism & Communication / Revista
Romana De Jurnalism Si Comunicare- RRJC, 4(3), 64-68.
Flatley, M. E. (2005). BLOGGING FOR ENHANCED TEACHING AND LEARNING.
Business Communication Quarterly, 68(1), 77-80.
Rudolph, K. R., & Sweetser, K. D. (2009). University Blogs and Organizational Image. Journal
Of New Communications Research, 4(2), 15-35.
Schechter, D. (2009). They Blog, I Blog, We All Blog. Nieman Reports, 63(2), 93-95.
Stelter, B. (2006). Confessions of a student blogger. Quill, 94(6), 31-32.