The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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There’s a first time for everything

When I lost my blogging virginity, it was for a class multimedia project I was pressured to do last semester.

I felt the pressure not only because I was going to get graded on it, but since blogging had already hit the mainstream by then. I could have already been categorized as a late bloomer, even more so because I am a journalism major.

The Blogger website, the popular go-to blog guide for rookies like me, was started by a company called Pyra Labs in August of 1999, by three guys who were just having fun with their creation. It became trendy like other personal websites, however this one had a twist that became more appealing to the internet audience. So much more alluring in fact, that Google became interested in 2002 and bought the webite that established this team.

I ventured to this website for my first time experience, and like any first time event, I didn’t know what I was doing and I am pretty sure it looked bad compared to the experts of the blogging world. However, Blogger made it easy for a novice, and soon enough, I learned my own tricks for my website.

The fascination with Blogger, which separates it from its hip predecessors, Myspace and Facebook, is that this website is completely your own creation. You can decide how you want to portray yourself through postings, color choices, pictures and links. Blogger is essentially your voice in the internet universe.

I’ve heard the rumors that employers now use Facebook and Myspace as a reference device to examine future employees. It is a scary thought, since for most CSUN students like me, I use those websites to exploit my drunken nights out in Hollywood.

With Blogger, though, I can establish myself as a professional journalist. I wouldn’t mind if a future employer snooped on my blog, and since personal blogs have sparked job opportunities for many people like Perez Hilton, I actually hope they do.

Of course, mine isn’t a gossiping tirade on celebrities, but the idea that someone can find my work and my life interesting is a guilty pleasure I am sure everyone thirsts for. We all want to be private individuals, yet we have to put ourselves out there to be recognized.

For the future of journalism, blogging is part of the field’s evolution. Reporters are taught to jump on the bandwagon and expose themselves because jobs are not out there like they used to be. It’s not a dying art, just one that is going through a transformation and maybe blogging about one’s life or posting an article can save a resume.

Even if you’re not a journalism major, blogging is a representation of your life that can come off more professional. It sounds better when you give an employer your own creatively named Blogger website rather than say, ‘Check me out on my Myspace page.’

I’ve tweeked my website since my first time, added a few gadget tricks, but I am still not a full-blown blog addict just yet. However, it comes in very handy for that one night when I just need to vent uncontrollably about my life and feel satisfied afterwards about getting it out there. That’s what I like to call a ‘blogging orgasm.’

Through our professional aspects or our belligerent rants, it is very difficult to say that Blogger will get old and die because our future is oriented around the internet and the way we go about portraying ourselves in it. While Myspace and Facebook will desperately try to conjure up ways to stay alive and popular, Blogger will just have to make adjustments to keep us addicted.’

When I lost my blogging virginity, it was for a class project. I was forced to for a decent grade in the class. Like any other first time event, it was slightly uncomfortable, different and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it again. Everyone I knew at that point had a blog, so I decided why not. Shoot, Perez Hilton got a career out of it.

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