Featuring a resource guide to the Top 100 Blogs, this title is a timely exploration of the influence of online journals and commentary that, according to Bill Gates, are the biggest thing since the 1995 Internet craze.
 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Shop the Amazon.com Textbooks Store and save up to 70% on textbook rentals, 90% on used textbooks and 60% on eTextbooks. |
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Blogging, at least in principle, is far from new. It could be argued, as the authors do, that Thomas Paine was a proto-blogger whose blogging paraphernalia consisted of pamphlets instead of free software and an internet connection. In this dense and entertaining analysis of the "new paradigm for human communication," journalists Kline and Burstein examine the notion that weblogs, or "blogs," are redefining journalism and media consumption and conclude that, while blogging may not signal the death of big media, it has measurably impacted everything from political campaigns-as evidenced by Howard Dean's presidential bid-to the life of former child star Wil Wheaton, who found his "second act" in a tell-all blog about the humiliations of show business. Soliciting the thoughts of well-known bloggers, such as Andrew Sullivan and Jeff Jarvis, the authors create a venerable blogosphere bible that navigates and interprets the cyber-verbosity informing the way journalists do their jobs, from fact finding to steering coverage. Using specific examples of blogger power, such as the release of an Iranian dissident from prison, and employing Q&A interviews with movers and shakers like Microsoft's Robert Scoble to discuss blogs' current and future marketplace utility, the authors offer a lot to consider about our information-saturated culture and what cream might rise to the top of it.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Just in case you've been living in the woods, blog is short for Web log, which is the online, collaborative, interactive, interconnected writing tool that is allegedly changing the nature of public discourse. Kline and Burstein, who also wrote Road Warriors: Dreams and Nightmares along the Information Highway (1995), are unabashed proselytizers, finding precedents for blogs in cave paintings and the "commonplace books" of later Europeans. Now, they say, blogging "may be nothing short of a new paradigm for modern human communication." After a persuasive introductory essay by Burstein, the book is divided into three sections: politics, business, and culture. Each begins with a thought-provoking essay by Kline and then includes interviews with and articles by a well-selected array of qualified commentators, including former Howard Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi, commercial blog mogul Nick Denton, and, surprisingly, former MTV veejay Adam Curry. Books on technology trends often have a short shelf life, but Blog! focuses on the larger issues that make this such an exciting cultural moment while steering clear of details that will date quickly. Well worthwhile. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By siddhartha
Format:Hardcover
I thought this was a great book. So many people these days talk about blogs as though they are the answer to everyoneąs prayers or written by rightwing nuts. This book showed that the blogosphere, like society, is full of people from all walks of life, and it showed just how useful blogging can be in the
worlds of politics, business and culture. Thereąs a little bit of
something for everyone in here.
I admit that I skipped a few of the business interviews when I found nothing there for me but if you run a large or small
business Iąm sure youąll find those parts interesting.
My personal favorites were the politics and culture essays, especially the interview with Michael Chabonąs wife Ayelet Waldman. The introductory essays were also good giving a balanced introduction to each of the chapters and all of the commentary pieces pulled from newspapers and magazines were entertaining.
The book had a tendency to repeat itself slightly with different
interviewees saying the same thing in different ways, but I suppose you canąt help that when you are interviewing so many different people.
On the whole I would say this looks like one of the best books out there on blogging at the moment.
worlds of politics, business and culture. Thereąs a little bit of
something for everyone in here.
I admit that I skipped a few of the business interviews when I found nothing there for me but if you run a large or small
business Iąm sure youąll find those parts interesting.
My personal favorites were the politics and culture essays, especially the interview with Michael Chabonąs wife Ayelet Waldman. The introductory essays were also good giving a balanced introduction to each of the chapters and all of the commentary pieces pulled from newspapers and magazines were entertaining.
The book had a tendency to repeat itself slightly with different
interviewees saying the same thing in different ways, but I suppose you canąt help that when you are interviewing so many different people.
On the whole I would say this looks like one of the best books out there on blogging at the moment.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
David Kline and Dan Burstein have been around for decades as respected author/journalists. They may not have great "street cred" among bloggers, but I've never expected a crime reporter to commit murder before writing about it and I certainly wouldn't trust a political writer more because he were a politician. This book is a critical investigation into the many ways that blogging is rapidly changing our world -- from culture to business to science to politics -- and in the arena of such trend-synthesis, the author/editors reek of cred. The essays are far-reaching and insightful, and the analysis pulls them all together clearly and cohesively. A virtual Bible of the Blogosphere.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Dana
Format:Hardcover
David and Dan really got it right with blog!. They take a meta view of the blogosphere looking at the political, business and cultural implications of blogs as a metaphor for the changes taking place in how organizations interact with their constituents.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Jim Estill
Format:Hardcover
This book review was a blog post on http://jimestill.blogspot.com/
I know a lot of bloggers read blogs. One awesome book that is a must read for bloggers is "Blog! How the newest revolution is changing politics, business and culture" by David Kline and Dan Burstein.
It talks of the power and influence of blogs. It uses political examples. Through these examples we can learn what good blogging is (honest, open) and what it is not (poorly written, blatant marketing). It talks about freedom of the press and countries and companies that try to suppress blogs. It also warns and gives examples of blogs that share insider or confidential information and what happens. Most of this advice is just "don't be stupid".
To quote from it:
"..most people - or at least most of the media's coverage of business issues in blogging - are missing the fact that the real excitement here is not how much money business can make from blogging, but how dramatically blogging will reshape the world of business from top to bottom and create new sources of competitive advantage for firms that learn how to use this new medium intelligently."
"Bloggers not only tend to be more passionate about their interests and hobbies than other people, they also have marketplace influence far beyond their numbers".
Much of the book consists of interviews with famous people who blog. It asks their view of the Blogshpere and what is happening.
This is a highly inspirational read for anyone who blogs. We live in revolutionary times and as bloggers (and blog readers) we see history being made. We are truly cutting edge. The world is changing before our eyes.
As A. J.... Read more ›
I know a lot of bloggers read blogs. One awesome book that is a must read for bloggers is "Blog! How the newest revolution is changing politics, business and culture" by David Kline and Dan Burstein.
It talks of the power and influence of blogs. It uses political examples. Through these examples we can learn what good blogging is (honest, open) and what it is not (poorly written, blatant marketing). It talks about freedom of the press and countries and companies that try to suppress blogs. It also warns and gives examples of blogs that share insider or confidential information and what happens. Most of this advice is just "don't be stupid".
To quote from it:
"..most people - or at least most of the media's coverage of business issues in blogging - are missing the fact that the real excitement here is not how much money business can make from blogging, but how dramatically blogging will reshape the world of business from top to bottom and create new sources of competitive advantage for firms that learn how to use this new medium intelligently."
"Bloggers not only tend to be more passionate about their interests and hobbies than other people, they also have marketplace influence far beyond their numbers".
Much of the book consists of interviews with famous people who blog. It asks their view of the Blogshpere and what is happening.
This is a highly inspirational read for anyone who blogs. We live in revolutionary times and as bloggers (and blog readers) we see history being made. We are truly cutting edge. The world is changing before our eyes.
As A. J.... Read more ›
31 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As good as the ideas are in this book, from the perspective of a hardcore blogger, this author has zero street credibility.
I was introduced to David Kline as a public figure, per chance, by catching him on The O'Reilly Factor. While I almost exclusively watch O'Reilly segments through Media Matters for America, I tuned into this particular segment about slanderous websites, because I was interested in hearing O'Reilly spinning reality once again.
Kline was a guest, supposedly the balanced guest from the left, who was immediately blown away by the conversation and O'Reilly. How so? Kline couldn't even engage in the conversation, because he had never even heard of Media Matters, the site that O'Reilly focused his vengeance upon.
Huh?
So I go to Kline's blog and I get involved in a few of his posts. The first is basically an open apology to the left and to bloggers for how he allowed himself to be used and abused by O'Reilly. A ton of people posted comments, with many getting on him for his lack of preparation when appearing on an obvious ambush show.
At first glance, I shrugged it off as a poor showing and gave the guy a break. Today, my perspective changed. Why? Go to his site, blogrevolt, and scroll down to the lower right side of the page. His "site" (his nomenclature) is being managed by Christian Sarkar, a marketing guy that has coined his own website marketing strategy called, "Double Loop Marketing."
Let me get this straight; a guy with no hours put in as a blogger (his archives go back two months at the time of this review) writes, authoritatively, about the future of blogging ("Blog! How The Newest Media Revolution Is Changing Politics, Business and Culture") and has someone "managing" his "site?... Read more ›
I was introduced to David Kline as a public figure, per chance, by catching him on The O'Reilly Factor. While I almost exclusively watch O'Reilly segments through Media Matters for America, I tuned into this particular segment about slanderous websites, because I was interested in hearing O'Reilly spinning reality once again.
Kline was a guest, supposedly the balanced guest from the left, who was immediately blown away by the conversation and O'Reilly. How so? Kline couldn't even engage in the conversation, because he had never even heard of Media Matters, the site that O'Reilly focused his vengeance upon.
Huh?
So I go to Kline's blog and I get involved in a few of his posts. The first is basically an open apology to the left and to bloggers for how he allowed himself to be used and abused by O'Reilly. A ton of people posted comments, with many getting on him for his lack of preparation when appearing on an obvious ambush show.
At first glance, I shrugged it off as a poor showing and gave the guy a break. Today, my perspective changed. Why? Go to his site, blogrevolt, and scroll down to the lower right side of the page. His "site" (his nomenclature) is being managed by Christian Sarkar, a marketing guy that has coined his own website marketing strategy called, "Double Loop Marketing."
Let me get this straight; a guy with no hours put in as a blogger (his archives go back two months at the time of this review) writes, authoritatively, about the future of blogging ("Blog! How The Newest Media Revolution Is Changing Politics, Business and Culture") and has someone "managing" his "site?... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poor
I have read a number of books about blogging. This one is by far the worst. It is a bunch of essays and interviews. Lot of focus on politics. Not really much focus on blogging. Read more
Published on March 19, 2008 by Software Maintenance
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extremely useful and informative book on an important social trend
This is a collection of short pieces, some written especially for the book and some reprinted from other sources. Read more
Published on August 23, 2006 by Elizabeth A. Root
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Significance of Blogs
According to one of the greatest scholars of the 20th Century, Dr. Walter J. Ong, SJ, who taught and inspired countless students and media experts for many years at St. Read more
Published on July 18, 2006 by Robert Leutwiler
1.0 out of 5 stars
is rant on political left
I was very disappointed in the book. Unfortunately, there's at least as much ranting from the author about his views of what's wrong with the political left, and as much of his... Read more
Published on June 28, 2006 by C. McNamara
3.0 out of 5 stars
Case studies of interest but not very helpful
If you want to read about some interesting blog developments and some socio-political analysis of the blogging phenomenon, this book will introduce you to such topics, but it does... Read more
Published on May 31, 2006 by JackOfMostTrades
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Management > Culture
- Books > Computers & Technology > Internet & Web Culture > Blogging & Blogs
- Books > Education & Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Communication
- Books > New, Used & Rental Textbooks > Communication & Journalism > Communications
- Books > New, Used & Rental Textbooks > Computer Science
- Books > New, Used & Rental Textbooks > Social Sciences
- Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Communication & Media Studies
- Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Popular Culture
