Teens and Blogging
Blog.
You’ve seen the word, you’ve read about it, or maybe you haven’t even heard
the word before. For all you know, it could be some foreign soft drink!
Don’t worry! Microsoft Word doesn’t even recognize the word yet.
What is a "blog"?
According to
Wikipedia:
- "A weblog (usually shortened to "blog,"
but occasionally spelled web log) is both a web application used for
entering, modifying, and displaying periodic posts (normally in reverse
chronological order) as well as the totality of content constituted by these
posts." To put it simply, a blog, or weblog, is a website that is regularly
updated with any information the "blogger" (the author) wants to write. Many
times the blogger will include links and commentary in each "post." Because
all posts are archived (saved in a permanent spot on the web), links become
a vital part of blogging because then they can be accessed at any time. All
blogs, as a whole, are referred to as the "Blogosphere." When information or
opinions erupt in the blogosphere, it’s called a "blogstorm," "blogswarm,"
or a "blogwave."
My introduction to blogging began when I
visited a website created by
Jake Smith. I had
talked to him on a Christian programmers' forum, a place where I learned basic
coding that helped me in being able to edit templates later on. I found out that
his site was called a "blog." I began to read and leave comments on his site.
This was a very enjoyable thing for me to do.
I decided to start my
own blog in July of 2004 and my first post got one comment—from Jake, whose
site I had been commenting on. He was one of my two readers. The other was
myself. But I wasn’t worried in the least. In fact, I didn’t know how many blogs
were out there. After a while, I found two other bloggers, who happened to be
homeschooled teens, and began to read their sites. Today, we’re known as the
"Fantastic Four" on my site. I’ve been blogging for almost a year now and have
received over 15,000 hits since that day. I update my site daily.
When I started blogging, I had a lot to learn. I was doing one thing right by
visiting other blogs and leaving comments. This was one way to get my readership
to grow, but I rarely linked to other bloggers and their posts. That was one tip
I now give all the people I help start blogging. It’s all about the links. Link
without ceasing. It’s what makes a blog a blog. After I began linking to other
blogs, I soon had an audience and people were listening to me. Today, I have
around 80-90 regular readers. Approximately 200 people visit my site each day
with each visitor viewing an average of four pages.
Aspiring young writers can start a blog and begin to perfect and fine-tune their
skills in journalism. They could also start a book blog, where they post a
chapter at a time. With the right connections, they can be noticed by real
journalists and, perhaps, get the opportunity to write. Blogging has opened huge
doors for me. I’ve been able to meet people of all faiths, race, color, and
creed. I’ve been criticized for my views, and I have been able to defend my
faith. I’ve begun writing a
column
in an online magazine and have gotten the opportunity to be a critic of books
and movies. Who would miss being called the "poster child" for homeschooling?—or
having a large blog say, "Only 20 more years and we can make him President"? I
wouldn’t miss it for the world!
I can only say that God has blessed me so much. He can use your blog as He has
used mine. It’s no joke: God can use anything for His glory—even blogging. I
pray that I will be able to use my blog to help people to get started, get my
ideas known, and get my thoughts on "paper." I’m known as "Agent Tim" in the
blogosphere, mainly because of my love for spies and law enforcement. My dream
come true would be to work with counter-terrorism in the FBI someday. However,
the way things are going, I will probably be working in journalism for the time
being.
My mom homeschools my brothers, my sister, and me. There are five of us in all,
with the youngest being five. I’m the oldest, at fifteen. At first, I didn’t
think that homeschooling was a factor in my writing, but I was wrong. What
really attracted many people to my blog was the fact that I had been
homeschooled all my life and hadn’t spent one day in a regular classroom. Being
different from the stereotype intrigues people. My blog was a place to show
people what I did in my daily life as a homeschooler. Homeschooled teens can
have a huge impact on the blogosphere. Readers want to learn more about them and
to see what these kids are saying about the world around them.
Many homeschoolers have found that blogging is the best route to take when
trying to describe what homeschooling is really about and what it looks like in
their family. It can show that not everyone is the regular stereotype. Bloggers
can show people what goes on daily in their lives and what they think about the
world around them, just as I have done for my readers. So why are so many teens
blogging? Why is there such an interest? It’s interesting to note that the
majority of bloggers are teen girls: "56% of blogs were created by females. A
typical blog is used by a teenage girl to post twice a month to update her
friends and classmates on her life." (source)
Teens run the trends, and product marketing is aimed at teens. Instant Messaging
(IM) has been around for quite awhile, with AOL IM (AIM) being the most popular
system right now. Teens are the people who made it popular, and now many adults
and teens alike are taking advantage of IM for speaking to relatives, conducting
interviews, and just chatting with friends. Similarly, teens have made blogs
popular - It’s why they’re around today. Without teens blogging, blogs would
never had taken off like they have. Blogs are basically online journals, a way
to express yourself and your ideas. Online journal can go places and be
interactive. It’s an interesting technology that can also be a lot of fun.
When it comes to homeschoolers and blogs,
Jake Smith says that
he has observed that most public-schooled kids don’t like to write, so
homeschoolers' blogging is no surprise to him. Jake Smith says, "I like blogging
because of readers, their feedback, and the different perspectives found in the
comment section of my blog." Alex King, of
Smarthomeschool Blog,
did an interview with me (that you can listen to
here)
about his blog and why he thinks blogs are a "subset" of homeschooling.
Travis, an
18-year-old homeschooled blogger, as well as a Boy Scout, did an interview
here.
Also, Kristen B., of
Spunky Jr.,
has this to say about why she blogs: "It's fun and it provides great
entertainment. Since I don't watch TV, blogging takes up that space. Even though
my readership is small, I like interacting with people and getting their
opinions." According to her, blogging is "Just like everything else, it's a part
of our life. My mom and dad have never made a dividing line between school and
life. That's rubbed off on me and that's where blogging fits in. Homeschool is
about pursuing things that interest you that you can use to glorify God."
Blogs really began around 1999, when Peter Merholz coined the word "blog". Blogs
then were just links to news sources, but soon people began to add commentary to
the links. With the creation of "servers" that could tell people that the site
had been updated, by using "pings," blogs began to take off. Many of the popular
blogs started around the 2000 Presidential election and the number of blogs has
grown rapidly since then. The largest of all blogs,
Instapundit, run by
Glen Reynolds, receives over 100,000 visits a day. His opinions and links, as
well as many other influential bloggers' links, such as
Michelle Malkin and
Hugh Hewitt, affect the
rest of the blogosphere.
Blogs have continued to make their mark on politics, the mainstream media and on
national issues. After September 11, many bloggers began to support the war on
terror, writing "war blogs." Blogs made their mark on history by bringing down
the Senate Majority leader, Trent Lott, by exposing his racist statements. He
said Strom Thurmond would have made a good president because of his leadership
abilities. Strom Thurmond was sympathetic to white supremacists. Blogs kept the
story alive and brought Trent Lott down. Many bloggers also write about national
issues such as Terri Schiavo, in which I took part along with millions of other
wonderful bloggers around the globe.
In many cases, it’s the smaller bloggers, all joining together to write about a
certain topic, that cause blog swarms and blog storms which, in turn, bring
topics to the mainstream media’s attention. This now poses a threat to the
monopoly of mainstream media because bloggers get the word out quickly and in
real-time. As I said in a review of the book "Blog" by Hugh Hewitt (a must read
for all bloggers), "Pick up a digital camera, get a blog, and you have your own
online newspaper and you're an editor and journalist."
Many people are turning to blogs to read the type of commentary that is missing
from liberal media outlets. This makes the blogosphere a great place to get
items noticed or get others to notice your skills. The written word can spread
like wildfire, affecting millions of opinions. You’ve got your own newspaper
where you can pick and choose what articles you want to write about and what you
want to include in it. You can choose your sources and put in your own
commentary. It’s yours, and you can have lots of fun with it.
Blogging is easy. In fact, it’s one of the easiest and most enjoyable things
I’ve ever done. It’s so easy in fact, that many people can get addicted to it,
so be careful. You also want to take all of the normal precautions in using the
Internet. Teens and children should work under the protection of their parents’
guidelines.
When you start blogging, make sure you write up your post beforehand before you
post it to your blog. I like writing everything down on a yellow legal pad, then
putting it on the computer using Notepad. I usually proofread it first. If I
don’t proofread, I almost always regret it later.
A good post includes an eye-catching title. However, if you would like to use a
general title, it won’t kill you and your blogging career. Use a keyword as much
as possible because this will get you some hits from search engines like
Google and
Yahoo!.
Make sure that you have decent grammar, punctuation, and English skills. Use
abbreviations sparingly or not at all. Capitalize when needed. I don’t like
reading paragraphs that are written like they’ve been typed on instant
messengers …it’s much too hard and a waste of time. Rarely is a good post found
in lots of slang. Remember: "White space is your friend!" Use it. Make
paragraphs. Indenting doesn’t really look good on blogs, so you can leave that
out if you’re not super picky. Your post doesn’t have to be long - just write
down your thoughts (or whatever you want) and fire it off into cyberspace. You
are now ready for anyone to read and enjoy your post!.
Whether you have 7 readers or 700 readers, write like you have 700. Do your very
best and you can’t go wrong. Hard work is what most bloggers say that you need
to become a "big blogger." Popularity doesn’t need to be your biggest goal.
Blogging requires you to think. Putting your thoughts on paper is your goal.
When you’ve got your thoughts organized on paper, and you enjoy the post, you’ve
succeeded. Remember, your biggest reader is you. Make your blog enjoyable for
you to read!
God bless you as you start your journey into the blogosphere. Dive in and have
fun!
Tim Sweetman is a 15-year-old writer,
columnist, and blogger from the D.C. area. He lives with his parents and 4
siblings, all homeschooled. His blog has received numerous good words from
large bloggers, as well as seminary presidents and journalists. He writes a
column for Virtue Magazine,
http://www.virtuemag.org,
an online magazine written by teens and young adults that is published
weekly.
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