Blog is short for weblog.
A blog is an online place for public expression and comment. At its most basic, a blog is a kind of public journal, where the blog user ("blogger") publicly records their thoughts or experiences. Today, blogs are used to record everything from political commentary to software development. Collaborative "group blogs" which have more than one blogger are also common.
Use of blogs
A blog can be set up by anyone and is often used as a means to offer commentary and opinion.
Therefore it is important to evaluate the information that you find within it.
What to look for:
Purpose
- What is the motivation for writing the blog?
- Are they writing on their own behalf or for a company or organisation, such as a political party or pressure group?
Either way you will have to consider whether there is inherent bias in what is being written.
Authority
- How many authors are they and who are they?
- Are there any references to sources used?
On what is the author basing their information?
- Are there any citations or links to other websites?
It may be worthwhile looking at these for quality and authority if they are being used as a source of information (see section of evaluating websites).
Objectivity
- Difference between comments/responses and blogger themselves?
Always do further research – you cannot rely upon blogs as an authoritative source of information for your academic work. Most faculties do not recognise the academic validity of blogs and would not expect to see them referenced.
Blog examples:
Educational :
http://elearnqueen.blogspot.co.uk/
Political :
http://www.democrats.org/news/blog
The Blue Blog at http://blog.conservatives.com/
Activity
Blogs Quiz
In this activity you will be asked to look at a blog and answer a few short questions.
Average completion time:
4 minutes
