KCB201: I'll tell you what I think ...

For Virtual Cultures we have to write a 500 word post about how we feel about our blogging experience; what we've discovered, how we've developed, skills, knowledge, etc.

Well can I just say - I've really discovered myself through this blog, I now hold a deep sense of recognition with my thoughts and I feel one with my keyboard [*if saying this will get me an HD, please stop reading now*]. Well, it's not really that hardcore, but I do find the blogging experience enjoyable and it's opened my eyes to the plethora of online information and, I suppose, forced me to think critically and creatively about the things I read. I find myself always thinking I wonder if I could blog about this article? Even when I'm reading really banal stuff like my old high school newsletters.

I created the daily current a while before Virtual Cultures - August last year I think - and at first I was posting quite regularly, about once a day - but I waned after a few months [you will realise this if you go through my archives] and eventually I stopped posting all together. But the great thing about blogs is they never go away, and I was able to pick up where I left off.

For a Media and Communications student like me, blogging is the perfect outlet to criticise the media as you learn to think like a journalist and consume the news on a higher level. Now when I scan the news, I find that I'm interested in a lot more issues and, when I do find an article that sparks my interest, I can read the same story from a number of different journalists, bloggers and news sources. Reading from diverse perspectives allows me to form my own opinion on the issue and whatever conclusions I come to, I publish here and then I feel [strangely] satisfied. Through blogging, I have the ability to pursue news stories that really interest me, involve myself in the issue and publish my thoughts for, if not everyone, at least myself to read in the future. I have also thought critically about blogging itself, and posted a few thoughts about whether bloggers are actually taking over the role of journalists or whether that idea is just a bit of hyperbole.

I have also found blogging is not just the act of typing thoughts into a window, hitting publish post, and wallowing in the thrill of having your words appear online. It's more: blogging is such an immersive act; it forces the blogger to constantly ponder topics from a number of angles, obsessively thinking what their own take on the matter is before publishing their thoughts as soon as they can.

My favourite style of blog is the MediaWatch-esque ones that provide editorial commentary - usually at least a little cheeky - on mainstream media and their various vulnerabilities and quirks. It's as thought the entire blogosphere is anti-mainstream, which makes sense considering most of the people who are content with news media would not want to create their own. Blogging has taught me to organise my thoughts before I type them up. And, as a byproduct, it has taught me how to better express my feelings through writing. It's extremely hard to convey qualities like sarcasm through text, but it is possible and I think I have developed a blogging style that suits my personality.

I will maintain this blog as consistently as I can thoughout my uni course because - if for nothing else - it will give me a catalogue to look back and reflect on. Also, I enjoy the challenges of blogging and the way it forces me to think critically and creatively about the media.