Blogs

What is a Blog?

A weblog (blog) is a web-based publication. Blogs range in scope from individual diaries to arms of political campaigns, media programs, and corporations. They range in scale from the writings of one occasional author, to the collaboration of a large community of writers. Many blogs enable visitors to leave public comments, which can lead to a community of readers centred around the blog; others are non-interactive. The totality of blog-related websites is often called the blogosphere. When a large amount of activity, information and opinion erupts around a particular subject or controversy in the blogosphere, it is sometimes called a blogstorm.

How to set up a blog:

View this video to see how to set up a blog.

(Safely)

To be safe on blog sites remember these simple rules:

• Be aware that any personal information (e.g. name, telephone number, email address etc.) can be found by anyone who has access to your blog.
• Ensure your blog privacy settings are set to a level you are comfortable with, that way you can control who can see your information.
• Check files sent to your blog for viruses before opening them.
• Think about the consequences of what you post on your blog. Consider whether it is factual information.
• Report blog abusers – kids can report this to their parents or teachers.

What are the problems?

Comment Spam:
The comment section of blogs can be attacked by spammers, that is, people who post links to unwanted sites. Link spam takes advantage of a blog’s ability to allow visitors to post links. Some comment spam may include links to inappropriate sites. To avoid this, ensure the blogs privacy settings are high, click the option to moderate comments before they are posted, and only accept comments from registered users to the site, rather than visitors.

Blog bullying:
An emerging form of bullying has developed where other pupils post personal, often vindictive abuse at the creators of blogs. These comments could attack the person who has created the blog, their friends, they could consist of nasty photographs, or sharing a link to the blog when it is intended to be for private use. To avoid this, ensure the blogs privacy settings are high and click the option to moderate comments before they are posted. If your child has experienced any form of blog bullying, visit the Cyber Mentors website at: http://cybermentors.org.uk/  

Unwanted contact:
When blogs are left in the ‘public’ setting, other people can make contact with children and young people through the comment facility included in most blogs, i.e., they can leave messages and contact details on a child’s blog. Some people may use blogs as a way of contacting young people, and due to the facilitation of anonymity on most of these blog sites, may not be who they say they are. It is advised to set the blog to private and moderate comments, as a way of ensuring the child or young person has control over who can access their blog and what information is publically available about them.

Creation of a permanent digital record:
Keeping a blog has the added implication of the creation and dissemination of a permanent digital record in a publicly accessible sphere. What might seem extremely amusing to put online one evening, in the cold light of day may seem not so wise. However, once online in a public forum a permanent digital record has been created. Talking through this aspect of blogging with children and young people will encourage them to think critically about the types of information they upload and also the comments and messages they leave on other people’s blogs.