KCB201 Week 10: Why and How to Blog Well

Writing this learning blog through this semester has contributed to my understanding of what a blog should be. Initially, I viewed it as a requirement to relay my understanding of unit topics in a mini-essay form. As the weeks have continued though I have begun to view it as an opportunity to relate those unit topics to my own experience and form an opinion thereafter.

Personally, this blog has encouraged me to do more regular work on my own sports blog www.mondaysexpert.com as it represents a passion and potential link to the next phase of my working life. As Martin Weller says in his blog “in the future I would like to think that instead of producing a CV and letter of application for a job you could just send someone to your blog” (The Ed Techie, 2007).

The suggestion that my blog can provide a window to my skills and knowledge is a powerful motivator to contribute the time required to maintain it. So from this point forward as Ewan McIntosh (2006) suggests, I intend to read more blogs on my chosen subject, actively engage in the conversation by leaving comments, and then engage more regularly with my on blog.

References:

Weller, M. 2007. The Ed Techie, Is blogging a good use of time?
http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_60765_1%26url%3D (accessed: April 30, 2010)


Mcintosh, E. 2006. Ewan McIntosh’s edu.blogs.com. Just because you can blog in one click doesn’t mean you should…
http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_60765_1%26url%3D (accessd: April 30, 2010)

KCB201: WK9 New Media, Health and Wellbeing

Amongst the plethora of uses the internet offers users it is not surprising that accessing health information is a rapidly growing sector. According to Lewis (2006), “there is no doubt that growing numbers of lay people throughout the world are accessing information about health online”. Personally I fall into this category. Often I will consult the internet for my own personal research regarding personal health concerns. Sometimes this may be to gauge more information about a condition after a doctors visit or possibly to investigate symptoms and potential causes. I agree that the availability of medical information online helps “facilitate a two-way, interactive relationship between patient and doctor” (Lewis 2006), and in my case this has improved my relationship with my GP. The major concerns that I hold with regards to the availability of this information in the online sphere is that some people will believe that their increased medical literacy via the web renders professional doctors unnecessary. The potentiality of a serious increase in the numbers of miss-diagnosis of medical conditions becomes a serious concern. Users will need to understand that the online world can be a positive supplement to the process of traditional health care but caution must be exercised when acting on medical information obtained from the internet and in turn deciphered by lay people.

References:

Lewis, T. 2006. Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria? Media, Culture and Society. 28 (4): 521–539.

KCB201 WK8 Getting Ahead: Working In and with New Media

The nature of the new media environment brings with it a wealth of challenges for those who wish to work and thrive in this industry. As a budding journalist myself, the growing insecurity of jobs within traditional journalism is a concern that is always at the back of my mind as I prepare to enter the industry. Being that it takes both experience and three years of study to gain the skills required to deliver professional content, it concerns me that there is a “sapping of economic and cultural power away from professional journalists to what I like to call ‘The People Formerly known as the Employers’ (TPFKATE)” (Deuze 2009). Additionally, like many industries, the movement towards “freelance, casualized, informal, and otherwise contingent labor arrangements” (Deuze 2009), leads to job insecurity and eventually the loss of talented people from the field.

The issues of job security and continuity are not only restricted to journalism. New media fields are filled with people who have an “extraordinary degree of creativity, passion and enthusiasm for this work” (Gill 2006, 43). Despite this commitment to the nature of the work, insecurities exist around income, work continuity and future prospects. Gill (2006, 41), notes that workers in the field found it very difficult to project forward to where they may be in five years time, so much so that many could not envision a long term career in the field at all. This level on insecurity in new media employment needs to be addressed for the long term betterment of the industry.

References:

Deuze, M. (2009). The people formerly known as the Employers. Journalism, Vol. 10, issue 3, pp. 315-318.

Gill, R. (2007). Informality is the New Black. In Technobohemians or the new Cybertariat? New Media work in Amsterdam a decade after the web. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures: 24-30 & 38-43.