changed layout and fingers crossed....

Okie... have changed format now.... fingers crossed... firefox users let me know if there are any problems accessing this now!

Firefox issues..

Loads and loads of complaints that this blog is not viewable on Firefox... sorry.. this happened after I switched to Beta. mail me - ayeshea@gmail.com. A layout change has not worked either. Oh and thanks for the feedback... 2 on the blog and some on chat. Can more of you write now???!!!!!

What do you think a blog community entails?

yes.. this has been a long time coming... still working with chapter 1. But I have some empirical research that I need to do.. please take some time out and give me your honest opinions... (or if not completely honest at least some intelligent sounding responses!)
Tell me...

Any members of a blog community
What do YOU think a blog is?
what are the main features of a blog community in your opinion?
And .. can you tell me what keeps you there? What does being a member of a blog community mean to you? What benefits (if any) do you get through being a part of such a community?

And those of you who read blogs but dont actually have one yourselves...

Why do you like reading blogs?
What constitutes a blog in your opinion??
What do you think are the attractions of being a part of a blog community?

The process of writing...

In my case, it's getting down on paper
Not thoughts, exactly, but ideas, maybe:
Ideas about thoughts.
Thoughts is too grand a word.
Ideas is better, though not exactly what I mean.
Someday I'll explain.
Not today though

Help???

ok I actually took a day off work and read all the articles that I would download from time to time in a pathetic effort to make myself feel I was actually doing something...
I think I have some good stuff out there, but I have a few questions... can anyone help?
* Is there a good site (apart from Wiki) where I can get a good detailed chronology of the popularity of blogging? Thats the only piece of info I feel I'm lacking at the moment with regards to my first chapter.
* I'm seeing a lot of variation with regards to the definition of a weblog... some definitions like in Rebecca's pocket www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html make a distinction between the blog and the online diary. Does anyone know if this is still accepted? Are there any recently posted definitions of a blog? I have a few, but a few more couldn't hurt..!

The Discourse Community

I'm basing part of my dissertation on the concpet of the Discourse Community by John Swales... for the uninitiated here it it: (yes yes the 'uninitiated' comment was a part of a pathetic attempt to feel superior... ok???)
Swales gives out six defining characteristics of a Discourse Community:

1. has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.
2.has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.
3. uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.
4. utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. 5. in addition to owning genres, it has acquired some specific lexis.
6. has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.

Part of my dissertation will look at blog communities in the light of this definition... then I'll embark on this 'hena' anthropological look at blog communities both more 'international' ones and 'local' communities like Kottu for instance... observing... watching...
he heee

Procrastination and Panic

I've had good intentions of starting on my Introduction and First Chapter for a good two weeks now... but all in vain. I cant seem to overcome the twin temptations of sleep and sheer laziness... yes I have succumbed...! Succumbed to their vile joys and the base comforts they offer..! Ah.. woe is me!
I Got some pretty good stuff from the net on definitions of what a blog really is. I'm not too willing to go with the traditional "personal webpag with entries in reverse chronological order" definition. I think the blog is definitely something more... Any ideas anyone??
Anyway I have ambitious plans to streamline my reading and begin a draft of my first chapter by Friday. Shall put it up for comments by then...
By the way - bloggers on Kottu/other blog communities.. shall have a questionnaire up that I would like you to answer... please???? That too soon... depending on my ability to grapple with and triumph over my need to sleep.

Research Proposal

This is what I basically hope to do with my Thesis:

Introduction

Introduction to Internet Language/e-discourse
The emergence of "digicourse" (as defined by Zitezen and Stein and a number of other researchers)
Small introduction to the blog and its popularity

Chapter One - The place of the blog in Internet media.
Definition of the blog
description of the form of the blog Form - (the physical features)
Comparison of the blog with other more "established" forms of internet mediums such as the chat for example. Can the blog stand apart as a distinctly unique form of internet media or is it a hybrid within a hybrid? (e-discourse itself being described as a hybrid). If a blog employs different facets of "traditional" internet media where can it be placed?
Chronology of the blog - how it gained popularity over the years - its increasing importance.

Chapter Two - Blog Discourse Community
Definition of Discourse Community - (John Swales)
Functions of Blogs (what they are used for..)
Blog Discourse communities - linking such communities to Swales' six step definition - is it an appropriate application?
Examples/Analysis from blog communities.
Other features unique to online (in this case blog) discourse community - The concept of "trolling", "flame wars" "Godwins Law", Identity etc...

Chapter Three - Blogging in Sri Lanka
Chronology of blogging in Sri Lanka - its rise in popularity
What are blogs being used FOR in Sri Lanka?
Development of Kottu/Moju/Latapata
Features of Sri Lankan blogs - distinct "Sri Lankan" features seperate from or local spin offs of traditional features of the wider 'blogosphere'
Vocabulary, style of writing, trolling flaming etc..
nNumbers on Kottu, Moju etc
Profile of Sri Lankan blogger? Reader? Non contributor? (this chapter will be supplemented with interviews/observations of Kottu, other discourse communities etc) J
ust a fad? Something deeper?