New Territory

Throughout the course of the term, my blogging experience was certainly an interesting one. It was confusing, difficult and entertaining- often all at the same time! The following passage explains how I came out the other side with a sense of satisfaction after gaining knowledge of something I had never previously experienced before.

This term was very different to any other I had been a part of before. I had become accustomed to learning things that I knew I would have to face in exams, and doing things on an independent level. Although there are many aspects of this course that will have a role when it comes to the exam, blogging is not something you can be examined on. The practicality of it was also refreshing, as I had become used to just writing documents and handing them in for my assignments. Working in a group, and knowing that you have to perform in order to prevent letting the group down, was another new aspect. Because of this, I always had it in my mind that what I was writing was going to be seen by a reasonably large amount of people, which made me think twice before writing an unimpressive sentence. In this way, it was productive writing for a blog, because perfection was always in the back of my mind.

The different tasks assigned to us allowed us to conjure up a whole scope of story ideas. I tried to follow the theme of the blog to my best ability, so my imagination didn’t run wild. As said before, I didn’t want to say anything that may look unimpressive or off topic to the blog, so I tried to keep it simple, but complete and informative. The assignments gave me a chance to write about my opinions that I have felt throughout the year. For instance, I enjoyed coming up with all sorts of points on my opinion piece to do with lectures being worthless, because a lot of the points I brought up are points I have discussed between friends and family. So this was finally my chance to express it to a significant amount of people. Therefore my research was largely based on previous and personal experiences, without needing to venture far away from res, as proven by my profile on Peter- a fellow member of Centenary House.

I prefer being independent with my work, so I didn’t relish the prospect of being in a group. Regrettably, I missed a couple of meetings due to other commitments, so I felt I didn’t contribute to the group as much as I could have done. When I was a part of the meetings though, the atmosphere was always warm, and we didn’t have a problem in coming to agreements on the group tasks, like the comic strip for instance. It was in my opinion, a fantastic piece, that I honestly don’t deserve any credit for due to my lack of participation! However, I will take a greater confidence away with me when next working with a group.

I believe that blogging is an extremely substantial aspect of journalism. The internet is the future, and as Sim said in the lecture today, “the future is now.” The majority of students have facebook, and in many ways facebook is a blog in itself, as it contains your profile, plus a section in which other people can write to you. That is why I believe facebook has a large role to play when it comes to teaching blogging in the future.

I disagree with the fact that being ‘confined’ to blogging this term has negative connotations. We tend to focus on an aspect of journalism every term, and because of the importance that I have discussed blogging in journalism to be, it was of great importance to get actively involved in it. To a certain extent, I liked the fact that we also had a deadline close approaching, whether it be just a comment or a full assignment, because it meant we had to be constantly involved with it. Due to this, I was looking at my blog every day, and being involved with your work on a daily basis can surely only be a good thing! On the downside, I felt that the lectures lost their value, because to be involved with this module, you had to have a computer in front of you, and most of the lectures were dedicated to the assignment due the next day, of which I felt only needed a glance on RUConnected to grasp an understanding of them.

When discussing my opinion piece, I had second thoughts with many of the points I brought up, as it may be argued that I went against the ethics concerning lecturers and the system that Rhodes University goes by. Lecturers may feel victimized in the way that I mentioned that they only read over the slides, and their tendency to be monotonous. I stand by my view on this, but is it ethical? It remains to be seen, but as said before, I felt this blog was the chance to express all my concerns.

On a scale of 1 to 10, it would give this a 6 in terms of my personal benefit from this course. I’ve learnt to perfect my writing, knowing that a lot of people would read it. I’ve also learnt to create a blog, something I was afraid of at the beginning of this course, as it is new territory for me. However, I feel there is an insignificant place for blogging in a world ever growing in facebook dominance. I believe facebook is the place for blogging, as it will receive a far greater number of viewers, and as it is familiar to such a vast majority of people, it is far more approachable and accessible. All in all, I have enjoyed this course. It was something different, and I am sure it has broadened my horizons in terms of writing for an audience. I look forward to further involvement in this area of journalism in the future.