Natalie Ostrowski

What is a Blog? Jill Walker Rettberg (2008)

Open Book Quiz

Note: you will be graded on the thoroughness and thoughtfulness with which you answer each
question. You may answer the questions underneath the questions. Please indent your responses
to make it easier for me to read. When youre done, you will be posting this on your weebly site
as a document on a Standard page called Research. I will give you more detailed instructions
in class.

1) What do HTML & CSS stand for and what do they mean? Offer an example or two.

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the code that is put in a web browser,
and an example is <p> at the beginning and end of a paragraph to indicate the text as a separate
paragraph rather than a long string of text. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It specifies
how the webpage should be styled in HTML. An example is whether or not the first lines of text
should be indented on a web page (Page 5).

2) What does RSS stand for? What does it mean/do?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It makes it easier to read the content on a Web
Site. For example, codes like <title> and </title> will mark the beginning and end points of an
individual posts title (Page 8).

3) What is Web 2.0? What distinguishes Web 2.0 from the first wave of web developers?
Please offer some examples and explain why/how these are considered Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 is a categorization of second generation Web Sites. What makes Web 2.0
different from the first Web developer transactions is that Web 2.0 allows for users to share
content and use the site as a platform. The first Web developments only focused on publishing
content. Some examples of Web 2.0 include Wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr and Facebook. These
are considered Web 2.0 because users share content with others on the web (Page 9).

4) Please list and explain the 3 different types of blogs discussed by Rettberg. Explain what
the defining feature of each are and how they are distinct from one another. What category
do you think our niche blog fall into and why?

There are three different types of blogs: personal or diary-style blogging, filter blogging,
and topic-driven blogging. Personal blogging is as straightforward as it sounds: people primarily
write about what is going on in their lives. One of the most popular personal blogs is titled
Dooce, which is the authors pseudonym and title of the blog. These days, Dooces blog mostly
contains droll or satirical stories about life as the mother of a young child, along with
photographs, often of her dog or her daughter (Page 9). These blogs are like a diary entries to the
public, offer snippets into ones life. Filter blogs are blogs in which the blogger shares a number
of things they have found on the Web. While personal blogs like Dooce focus mostly on the life
of the blogger, filter blogs filter the Web from the bloggers own point of view (Page 12). While
their main filter blog takes center stage, bloggers can share links and other web resources that
relate to their blogging topic for additional information. Topic-driven blogs simply focus on
topics, like a particular hobby, profession or area of interest. These are different from personal
and filter blogs because they dont delve into ones life; they delve into the topic. These blogs
can be neat because they could be run by a group of people that are interested in a certain topic
as well. I think that niche blogging falls under the categories of personal and topic blogging.
This is because personal blogging delves into ones insight on their lives and topic blogging is
centered on a specific area, interest or hobby. When the two are combined, it allows for an
individual to write about their own experiences with a particular niche, creating the niche blog.

5) From where does the word Blog derive? Why is this significant?

The word Blog derives from the words Web and log. Its significant because the
word log dates back to the days of sea navigation, when sailors kept a log of the events from
their journey (Page 17). More specifically, the name derives from calculating speed with a log.
Speed was calculated by throwing a log with a rope attached, and however many knots passed
the sailors hand in 30 seconds determined the speed (Page 18). Today, people still record a
number of things in various types of logs, and navigate the Web like sailors navigated the seas.

6) Rettberg defines blogging by discussing the phenomenon in terms of genre and medium.
Please explain why she does this and how it helps us understand the genre of blogging and
how blogging functions as a medium.

Blogging as a genre and medium help us to better understand the purpose of a blog. As a
medium, blogging offers an outlet for expression. This kind of expression is presented through
writing, imagery, graphic design, and storytelling that make the blog unique. It is one way of
presenting information, allowing it to be used as a medium for communication. As a genre, there
are plenty of categories that blogs may fall into such as personal, topic, filter, political etc. These
genres can cross-over, allowing blogs to be unique (Page 20). Rettburg discusses the blog as a
genre and medium to expand peoples definitions of blogs, and help them recognize blogs as
multi-faceted outlets of expression. It allows people to recognize blogs as part of a larger
category on the Web. As a genre and medium, blogs are not limited to a singular definition, and
this helps people realize how diverse they can be.