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shortened version of weblog, a website to which people post pretty much anything they want. A blog is a personal journal, a source for breaking news, an ongoing letter between friends and family, a virtual coffeehouse where strangers unite over common interests, a political platform, a debate club, a corporate marketing tool, an art gallery. In its various forms, the word "blog" is both a noun and a verb: Bloggers blog on their blogs, which are known collectively as the blogosphere.
Blogs have transformed how we communicate and connect, and how we access and disburse information. As of November 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs, and the number is growing exponentially: about 120,000 new blogs are created every day. Following is a sampling of Whitworth alums from Germany and Iraq to New Mexico and Seattle who have joined the burgeoning blog phenomenon.
(Calling all Whitworth bloggers:Send us your blog link and a bit of info about yourself to be considered
for future installments of Whitworth Today's new "BlogWatch" series. Submissions may be made
to tmitchell@whitworth.edu.)
English major with an education endorsement
Professional blogger, author and freelance journalist specializing in adoption-related issues
Blogs: www.HeBlogsSheBlogs.com (forthcoming in early 2008) and www.exploringadoptionblog.com. Christianson's Exploring Adoption blog received Forbes magazine's Best of the Web rating in 2005 and is featured in the book Blogosphere: Best of Blogs (2006); her blog logo received an Award of Excellence and is showcased in the book American Corporate Identity (2006).
My business partner, Jim Rubart, and I started He Blogs, She Blogs with the intention of providing blog consulting for individuals who wanted to increase their visibility in cyberspace. We soon discovered there is a huge, untapped market for business blogs. We shifted our focus to working with companies who want to launch a blog or retool their existing blog. We hire freelance blog designers/developers and writers, who work with our clients to produce blogs tailored to their needs.
Marketing in the 21st century is undergoing a fundamental shift—from the traditional "static" Web pages and press releases to "conversation marketing." It's invigorating to help companies discover how they can positively affect their business by offering fresh, engaging content via blogs.
I've been teaching beginning blogging courses at writers' conferences across the country, and the interest in blogging is exploding. But most people don't know how to blog effectively, so they give up after a couple of months (or weeks, or days). Or they're afraid to blog because they're technologically-challenged. During my travels, people kept begging me for advice about how to blog, and many recommended I become a blog consultant. Jim Rubart owns a successful marketing business in the Seattle area, and he suggested we combine our skills and team up. Neither of us are programmers, so we can speak to technophobes on their level. Both of us are professional writers, and we believe that great writing is the hallmark of any successful blog. Our unique male/female perspective on blogging, writing, and marketing has found wide appeal.
I launched the Exploring Adoption blog in November 2004. My original intent with the blog was to establish myself as an expert in adoption-related issues, with the ultimate goal of landing a book contract with a publisher (which I did, in April 2006). My blog is part business, part ministry, part public service. Mostly, it's great fun. The constant interaction I have with readers worldwide challenges me to think outside the box, to research and deliver the latest adoption information, and to hone my writing skills.
Journalism and political studies double major
Reporter covering the courts beat for the Fresno Bee, in California
Blog: www.fresnobeehive.com/news/chris_collins
My blog documents the six weeks I spent in Iraq reporting for McClatchy Newspapers, which owns the Fresno Bee and about 30 other daily newspapers in the U.S. The blog started off as a daily journal; I wrote about my experiences traveling to and living in Iraq. Over time, I began writing about experiences and thoughts that I wouldn't necessarily include in my articles.
I wrote the blog mostly for my own reasons, to get things off my chest and record what I saw. It was therapeutic. I was pleased to find that the blog was well-read and that many people appreciated it.
One of the best benefits of blogging was getting feedback from readers. When I was out in the middle of Baghdad, I sometimes felt cut off from the rest of the world. It was an encouragement every time I received a comment from a friend, relative or even a random stranger.
Theology major
Graduate student at Princeton Theological Seminary, freelance web and graphic designer
Blog: www.pomomusings.com
Pomomusings focuses on theology and issues related to the emerging church. When I started the blog in 2003, "pomo" was the hip and trendy way of referring to all things postmodern. It was my hope to write some musings on postmodern thought and theology; hence pomomusings.
The purpose of pomomusings is twofold: first, it provides a place where I can write and publicly wrestle with questions I have and issues I'm working through. Second, it provides others a place to interact with me and engage in group discussions. I like to rock the boat a bit with my blog, so I tend to cover some controversial issues.
It's been interesting how the public perception of blogs and bloggers has changed. It seems that blogs were viewed initially as "cute little hobbies." That perception has changed over the past few years. Last year I was contacted by an AP News reporter to be interviewed for a story on Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church in Seattle, simply because I had blogged about Driscoll a few times. I receive a couple of e-mails every week from publishers asking me to review their books on my blog. This speaks to the fact that people are realizing the great influence bloggers have in today's culture.
The most fulfilling part of blogging has been the friendships I've made and the community I've found among certain tribes of bloggers. I have formed valued friendships with people I met through blogs. One of those friends, Jen Lemen (www.jenlemen.com), helped officiate at my wedding. I've seen people come together and raise money for charities, help support fellow bloggers in times of need, and generally watch out for each other. When a well-known blogger's son was diagnosed with leukemia, bloggers came together to raise and donate money for his family's medical expenses. This is not uncommon among bloggers.
A question that many people have about blogs – and one I haven't answered for myself yet – concerns transparency and the web. I often don't hold much back on my blog; I post random stories, thoughts on controversial issues, and theological views that some would consider unorthodox. As a person who is currently a candidate in the Presbyterian Church (USA) ordination process, I often wonder about what that will mean for my future ordination and my current job search. Will a church Google my name before hiring me? Will that cause any problems for me? I think that's a challenge, especially as some are still getting used to new forms of technology. Some say that it's better because you really do get to know a person before they are hired – you get to see a variety of aspects of their personality, humor, character and ideology. Others think that it's not good to put that much out for all to see. I'm still trying to find a good balance.
Communication studies and French double major
Author, mother, wife, friend, Girl Scout leader
Blog: www.thesimplewife.typepad.com
The Simple Wife offers glimpses of my everyday life – parenting, crafting, writing – and provides the opportunity to share my life with others, to encourage women to pursue simplicity, and to tell how God works in the everyday moments of life.
Through blogging I've made so many new friends from all over, some of whom I've had the chance to meet face to face, others whom I look forward to meeting one day here on earth or in heaven. There's something about writing back and forth that reveals the hearts of people. There's very little pretense or impressions based on appearance or age or accent or anything else. People write about their true selves, which has allowed me to develop deep relationships in a short amount of time.
The challenge of blogging is being disciplined to write each day. For my family, the challenge is knowing that I'm going to write about them and tell their stories. Of course, my children are still young, so they don't know any different!
Art major and nursing major, respectively
The Tullucks recently moved from Seattle to Germany, where Marco is a freelance English teacher in Berlin, and Anya is taking a German-language class and plans to work in the nursing field.
Blog: web.mac.com/tulluck
Our blog is about what we are doing in Berlin. We add a new entry every few weeks. Each entry consists of a short letter that lets people know what has been happening in our lives and a link to a corresponding photos page.
We created the blog because we wanted an easy way to share stories and photos from our trip with all of our friends and family. This is much easier than sending separate e-mails to everyone with attached photos.
It has been very fulfilling to be able to share our experiences with friends and family back home. Not only can they read about what we've been up to, but they can see it for themselves in our photo pages and write comments on the blog. Reading people's comments is one of the most fulfilling parts of the blog.
English major
Freelance writer, editor, sometimes designer, and late-nighter working under the shingle of Never Enough Coffee Creations
Blog: www.jeffcarlson.com/imovie
My blog features news and information about iMovie and iDVD, Apple's programs for editing digital video and creating DVDs; it also covers general Macintosh information. The blog is primarily a companion website to my book iMovie '08 & iDVD '08 for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide (2007, Peachpit Press), as well as to previous editions of the book and related books I've written. It's a place for readers to find out new and related information about iMovie and video editing.
Sometimes the comments I've received have been surprising. I wrote a blog post last year about a new camcorder that records footage to an internal hard disk instead of to tape. I commented on its features and the unfortunate fact that it wasn't compatible with Macs. Well, the post must have gotten indexed well by Google or something, because soon there was a full-blown discussion by owners of that model and others about how to work around the incompatibility. I put up a little notice that turned into a resource for owners of those camcorders that I didn't need to encourage.
Before there was blogging software, I maintained the site by hand-coding HTML, which was a pain. Being able to just post information without worrying much about formatting or HTML or other technical stuff has been a huge relief. Now, if I see something I think might be interesting to my readers, I can post it quickly.
Comment spam is probably the biggest drawback for me. You have to be diligent about scanning your comments to make sure people aren't flooding your blog with ads for "enhancement" pills or worse. The other thing, too, is just finding time to do it. I'm not a full-time blogger, so there are times when I post several things, and times when I don't post when the news is dry or I'm too busy with other projects. The same goes for my personal blog, at jeffcarlson.com. But blogging is good to do, both in terms of attracting attention (which is a tangible commodity for a freelance author) and keeping the site up to date.
Journalism major
Graduate student in intercultural communication at the University of New Mexico; public-speaking instructor
Blog: www.messycucina.blogspot.com
My blog's primary subject matter is really good, really honest food. I like to try out recipes using whole foods and other healthy ingredients. I post frequent indulgences, however, like my sugar-crusted pound cake. Everything about food should bring you pleasure, from selecting and preparing it to eating it. As an interculturalist and someone who likes to try new foods, the main purpose of my blog is to explore other cultures through cuisine.
One of the most surprising things I've encountered through my blog is the number of people from all over the world who care what I think and write about. It's also surprising how close I've become to people through reading what they're doing in their kitchens and sharing what I'm doing in mine. I think it's a testimony to the salience of food in our lives. Food is never just food: It's comforting, it's relaxing, it's celebratory, it's life-giving.
In addition to the friendships, the most fulfilling part of blogging has been expanding my culinary repertoire, and documenting the first few years of my marriage and grad school through food. Over the last two years, there have been both trying and celebratory times. Whether it's to comfort or to indulge, to relax or to challenge, each occasion calls for food in one form or another. Sometimes the real skill isn't in the recipe, but in knowing which food to call upon for the occasion. Crafting that instinct has been fulfilling in every sense of the word.
Now that I'm full-swing into grad school, the challenge of blogging is in finding time to post new recipes. My husband and I have a long-distance relationship and – let's be honest – spending three hours in the kitchen with no one to validate your efforts through praise and a hearty appetite isn't much motivation to cook. In a way, food blogging provides that audience we need to witness our efforts in creativity. Ask any cook and she or he will tell you the best part of preparing a meal is sharing it, satiating the appetites of the heart, mind, body and soul. Is it any wonder that the best memories are often tied to the best meal? What a gift to give someone.
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Laura Christianson, '82
Chris Collins, '05
Adam Walker Cleaveland, '02
Joanne Heim, '93
Marco and Anya Tulluck, both '05
Jeff Carlson, '92
Darla Lewis Wiese, '04