Personal blogging also has cultural and social implications in today’s modern society. As a subset of gender, this topic reflects on how social and cultural circumstances impact on people’s reasons for using weblogs.
Long before the terrorist attacks of 911 and the War on Iraq, people, mostly women, began using blogging to counter their country’s cultural beliefs and get their voices heard in a place where they could not be persecuted (Herring, Kouper, Scheidt and Wright, 2003). The history of other online discussion forums, as with weblogs, shows that a “democratising� technology does not result in social equality and points to the importance of social and cultural factors surrounding technological adoptions and their use (Herring, Kouper, Scheidt and Wright, 2004).
Weblogs are providing a way for women in Iran to talk freely and comment on taboo subjects such as sex and boyfriends, share their fears and aspirations and are providing insight into an otherwise closed society (Hermida, 2002).
However, blogging in countries where culture affects what people can and cannot discuss isn’t just for women. Although in places such as Iran, Iraq and other middle eastern countries, where men have a higher status than women and have the ability to work, speak their mind and overall have more access to technology than women, there are still issues that men cannot talk about in public which they air in their blogs.
The subtopic of gender discussed how gender affects the type of blog that a person uses. Adult males have been seen to use filter type blogs and k-logs, which are politcally and news based, while teenage females and females in general are the main consumers of journal blogs, which detail the days events and the bloggers thoughts (Herring, Kouper, Scheidt and Wright, 2004).
The reasons that shape which type of blog will be chosen on the basis of author demographics, such as age and gender, is affected by the social and cultural boundaries of society. The stereotypical roles of men and women, such that the men earn the money and the women take care of the house and their children, affects the fact that women like to talk more about personal things, rather than men who talk about business, news, current events and politics, this is evident in the type of blogs that they choose. Teenagers are similar to women in that they are experiencing new things all the time, going to school and dealing with physical and emotional changes and therefore they need an outlet to voice their feelings (Barista, 2004).
Blogging is just part of the mix of reality TV, celebrity exposed and live news being beamed into our living rooms around the clock (Blogging – The New Voyeurism 2002). It can be seen that the cultural and social trends that are prevelent in the world today, although varying from country to country, have a major affect on how people interact with others, how they portray themselves and what type of weblog they use. Overall these boundaries shape the way the society works and the way that people view personal blogging.
Hailey Puller 12:15, 7 Sep 2004 (EST)
Hailey Puller 11:25, 24 Oct 2004 (EST)
