Getting to grips with the Blogosphere

by Mike Bromwich, Technical Director, PDMS

A common trait amongst many interesting web sites is the concept of user-generated content – sites made up of information, pictures or other contributions from the sites’ audiences. Such sites have adopted a variety of different forms – one of the most prominent being the ‘blog’.

I have to come clean – I am certainly no blogspert, and the concepts and terms which surround the blogosphere are all new to me. I have watched the popularity of blogging gather momentum from the sidelines – and yet my initial prediction of a short-term fad has proven to be at least seventy-one million blogs wide of the mark. This groundswell of interest has introduced a vocabulary all of its own – making the concept all the more difficult to fathom for the uninitiated – but here we go.

The term blog is a portmanteau of the words web and log (not that I had much idea what a portmanteau was either).

Simply stated, a blog is a journal of entries written chronologically by an individual – a diary or chronicle of thoughts, activities and other often random ramblings (and a portmanteau is a word made up of other words to give a combined meaning, in case you were wondering). Sometimes, entries are posted regularly – every day or week for instance, but more often they grow more randomly – as and when the blogger has something (supposedly) interesting to say. Many blogs also allow readers to attach comments to blog entries – thus fostering discussion about the subjects raised. As mobile technology matures, people are updating their blogs from the train, the beach or the top of a mountain – a blog built using a mobile device is called a moblog. Text-based blogs are just the tip of the iceberg - a blog made-up of sketches is called a stetchblog, a blog of videos is a vlog, and a blog of photos is (you guessed it) a photoblog. Some blogs focus on a particular subject – such as travel, politics or even blogging itself.

Some members of the mainstream media community use blogs as part of their portfolio – although many bloggers are keen to distance themselves from traditional press. Often, friction develops between the two camps – heightened by lack of regulation and ambiguity when it comes to copyright law. The legal consequences of blogging can be complex and unexpected, and the courts have been asked to rule on many new and previously unseen situations. People have lost their jobs as a result of entries in their blogs, particularly when these blogs have been judged to reveal commercially sensitive information or to include entries which employers consider inappropriate. Being dismissed in such circumstances is known as being dooced – dooce being the pseudonym of Heather B Armstrong who lost her job for posting satirical comments relating to her employer. The case raised a ferocious debate regarding privacy issues, and her blog at http://www.dooce.com is still going strong – now concentrating on the daily trials of a woman looking after her daughter whilst living in Los Angeles. Another high profile case was that of Mark Jen, who was dismissed by Google, Inc. after just ten days for publicising corporate secrets on his personal blog – the offending comments are still readable in his blog today.

There are other risks as well – particular in parts of the world where the authorities are less relaxed when it comes to the merits of promoting free speech. Abdul Kareem Suleiman Amer was arrested, charged and sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Egyptian authorities when comments posted on his blog were judged to be insulting to the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The action in turn attracted considerable worldwide attention since many judged the conviction to have violated human rights. Diplomatic pressure was applied by the US Congress, Italy and the United Kingdom, and several rallies and online petitions were held calling from his release. The action is ongoing.

The fact that maintaining a blog is a form of publication raises the risk of actions being brought for defamation. A British lecturer referred to a politician in less-than-favourable terms, and after her true identity was revealed, she was successfully sued. Such action often requires the co-operation of the Internet Service Provider hosting the blog to reveal the true identity of the blogger. European and UK law has developed to afford the ISPs some relief from liability as long as they promptly remove such content when asked to do so. This has led to criticism that they such obligations can stifle free speech – but ISPs are perhaps justifiably erring on the side of caution.

As with anything which promotes open contribution, there is a dark side to blogging. Kathy Sierra, who maintained a seemingly harmless blog called Creating Passionate Users, was the subject of death threats. This prompted her to develop the blogger’s code of conduct. Her fourth rule suggests you ‘ignore the trolls’ – a troll is someone who deliberately posts disturbing or inflammatory and unconstructive content on a sensitive subject to a blog with the sole intent of inciting a reaction. Such has been the dramatic rise in the popularity of blogging that the proportion of global Internet traffic attributable to blogs has multiplied tenfold in the last twelve months. This can give hosting companies a headache, since as the popularity of a particular blog soars, so does the traffic directed to the site – often in a very short timeframe. The infrastructure can be quickly overwhelmed – the result being known as a blogjam. Ok – I made that one up, but it seems that creating new words is part of the culture, so I may as well join in.