Customer Reviews

Blogging (DMS - Digital Media and Society)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This excellent book covers all the basics, starting by putting blogging into the history of recorded communication, covering the high and low points of blogging's short history - including many of its more controversial moments - and finishing with a discussion of privacy and our networked selves. It has a deceptively easy-to read and absorbing style, but an unbelievable amount of information is packed into its pages. This book is not for you if you want a dispassionate and academic account of blogging; but if you want a theoretical, historical and detailed narrative, always flavoured with personal insight, you will get a lot out of this book.

Jill Walker Rettberg's book, Blogging, is a book that combines introductory knowledge about blogs, as well as it goes more in depth - connecting blogging to literacy, etc.

Writing a book on blogging is hard, as there is so much you could write about. Looking for a book that can function as a starting point, this is the book to get, even if you're an academic looking for a simple explanation to all things blog. There are few books out there on the history and phenomenon of blogging, although there are many on how to make, maintain and use a blog to make money. This book is one of the first to take a look at the cultural phenomenon blogging really is.

This book is a refreshing, highly readable text on Bogging from its bare bones beginning through present. The first half of the book was humorous and informative. The second half was more scholarly and a little less fun (that's why this rates 4 out of 5 stars).

I enjoyed this book so much and was so encouraged by it that I actually made the first tentative steps toward creating my own blog. I highly recommend this book.

Jill Walker Rettberg's work is neither a simple how-to guide (of which there are many), nor is it a book on blogging which presumes readers are already blogosphere aficionados. Rather, she has managed to write an engaging and critical book which situates blogging within broader histories - such as the role of blogging in terms of literacy, the evolution of citizen journalism, blogs and/as social networks, and even ethical frameworks which examine advertising and authenticity in blogs. More to the point, for someone new to blogs as an idea, or in practice, Blogging offers a world of insight and experience distilled into a readable and engaging form.

Expected more. Not bad. But there is more to study about blogging. I should write it. In fact, I will.

This is an incredibly miserable book. I bought it hoping for a complex and nuanced discussion of blogging, but unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than journalistic dribble filled with lame clichés and a suffocating amount of block quotes. Ms. Walker understands blogging on the surface; she just never processes this material with any rigor or real sense of thoughtfulness. To be fair, though, "Blogging" is a good starting point for those unfamiliar with the blogosphere and some may even enjoy her curtly style. She also has a nice bibliography.

Please don't take my word for it: Use the "Click to Look Inside" feature and judge for yourself. People looking for alternative sources on blogging might want to refer to "Into the Blogosphere," an interesting, free collection of essays hosted by the University of Minnesota: [...]