Personal Blogs Research Articles

Beyond the Subject. New Developments in Life Writing

Following two successful conferences in Amsterdam in 2009 and in Tallinn in 2011, the third IABA Europe biennial conference, held from 31 October to 3 November 2013 in Vienna and hosted by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography, was entitled “Beyond the Subject. New Developments in Life Writing” and aimed at bridging the gap between historical forms of life writing and the most recent medial transformations in the genre of life writing, like personal websites, blogs and social networks as new spaces in the autobiographical public sphere. At the same time, the conference focused on auto/biographical practices that consciously undermine the traditional Western concept of the subject and develop alternative models of life writing.After the conference, participants were invited to submit articles based on their papers presented at the 2013 IABA Europe conference, to be published in the European Journal of Life Writing. In this section of the journal you will find more samples of the different topics that were addressed during the conference; the first six articles based on papers presented at the conference can be found in Volume III of the Journal. This article was submitted in December 2014 and published on 16 March 2015.

Redes sociales y aprendizaje cooperativo en un MOOC

Los cursos MOOC están alterando el panorama educativo y recibiendo gran atención de la literatura científica. Sin embargo, el diseño pedagógico de estas propuestas ha sido puesto en entredicho. Es precisamente el aspecto social de los MOOC, esto es, la interacción entre los participantes del curso y el apoyo a los procesos de aprendizaje uno de los grandes temas de interés. En este artículo se presentan los resultados de una investigación realizada en la Universidad del País Vasco centrada en el aprendizaje cooperativo y en la utilización intensiva de Redes Sociales en un curso MOOC. Se han recopilado datos significativos mediante encuestas tipo Likert que revelan que el uso de las redes sociales, tanto externas como internas, de un curso online masivo y abierto, es un factor valorado positivamente por los estudiantes. Se defiende que la utilización de Redes Sociales como estrategia de aprendizaje en un curso MOOC influye en el rendimiento académico y las tasas de éxito de los estudiantes. Además, la edad de los participantes influye en las Redes Sociales utilizadas, encontrando que mientras que los más jóvenes tienden a trabajar en redes externas como Twitter o blogs personales, los de más edad se decantan por los foros que la plataforma Chamilo o la red Ning proporcionan.

On Bioinformatic Resources

On Bioinformatic Resources

The Short, Passionate, and Close-Knit History of Personal Style Blogs

Most media histories of style blogging commence their narrative in 2009, at the moment when a select few fashion and personal style bloggers were invited to sit front row at a number of shows on the Spring/Summer Ready-to-Wear “Fashion Month” schedule. Yet that moment, symbolic of the “arrival” of fashion bloggers in the industry (albeit a partial and contested one), was precipitated by years of fashion blogging. This developmental period has not yet been mapped. This article, then, presents a historical narrative tracing the development of personal style blogging through the archive. It engages with the earliest independent fashion blogs (which predated distinct subgenres of fashion blogging) to map how they, along with early digital and print media, influenced and led to the emergence of personal style blogging as a distinct subgenre of the wider fashion blogosphere. I draw on oral history from bloggers as well as the archives of their (and other) blogs, as well as the digital archive of early fashion websites, online articles, and blogposts from current style blogs. I also draw on prior studies of personal style blogging by Rocamora and Luvaas, among others, as well as work by Lévi-Strauss and Butler, to contextualize this discussion.

The Great Whoosh: Connecting an Online Personal Health Narrative and Communication Privacy Management

This research study examined Bud Goodall’s online health narrative as a case study through the use of a thematic analysis to investigate the presence of communication privacy management (CPM) theory. Emergent themes of humor as a privacy management strategy, legitimization of co-owners, shifting privacy rules at end of life, and metaphors as privacy protection were used to recount Goodall’s cancer experience on his personal blog, connecting to the components of CPM. The themes the authors analyzed represent the push–pull dialectical tension experienced to reveal and conceal information, conceptualization of private information, shared boundaries, and boundary linkages.

The Shaping of Environmental Information in Social Media: Affordances and Technologies of Self-control

This article studies environmental information as it circulates in social media, specifically in personal blogs and microblogs. It rests on a thematic analysis of a selection of Swedish language, personal, everyday life environment blogs active during 2011 and 2012 and the social media applications connected to these blogs. Gibson's concept of affordances and Foucault's notion of governmentality are brought together to examine how material and technological affordances of social media and the structures of governmentality work together to engender a type of information on environmentally friendly living that is rooted in the conditions of the Web, together with a view of society which is structured around choice and individual responsibility. The article argues that information is woven into the texture of the social on every level, including everyday life practices, and hence social media, as tools in such practices, contribute to shaping the way in which information on environmentally friendly living is articulated, shaped, and filled with meaning.

Theory and practice of protection of personal names in the domain space or “renewed” cybersquatting (in terms of the states of Eastern Europe)

With the development of the Internet, more people are creating personal websites and blogs, and they expect to be able to use their own name or surname in the domain name. The aim of this article is to identify and analyse the existing problems in the use and protection of personal names in the domain space, as well as the development of legal approaches that can be used to resolve disputes that arise. In the course of the analysis, the authors conclude that the existing legal regulations at both the international and national levels are not sufficient to protect personal names effectively. Current approaches in this area are scattered and not systematic. The conclusions and suggestions made in this paper can be used to form a specialised procedure to resolve domain name disputes relating to personal names, as well as in the course of organising and updating the national legislations of the states of Eastern Europe.

Criteria of the Efficiency of Symbolic Attributes of Power in the World Wide Web

The work is devoted to the thesis that modern communication channels can be used for the increase of political influence due to the fact that the Internet has obviously been gaining power and is widely used and adopted. It supports the idea that no politician or public figure can hope to exist efficiently without using available Internet resources and maintaining personal sites or blogs for the sake of popularity and awareness. The criteria for the efficiency of symbolic attributes of power in the Internet are considered and selected for the analysis of different kinds of Internet resources used by politicians and political organizations in Tomsk and Tomsk region to. The work reveals how efficiently the personal or public blogs are used and whether they serve the real tool for the communication between the power and the public or they are basically formal and simply exist as a fashionable trend. It is shown that Internet channels are important and can increase efficiency of the communication between the authorities and citizens.

E-health: an overview of the uses of the Internet, social media, apps, and websites for mood disorders.

The current article defines and surveys E-health: Internet and technology-guided interventions and tools useful for mood disorders. E-health encompasses many categories, including computerized self-help strategies, online psychotherapy, websites that provide information, social media approaches including Facebook, Internet forums for health discussions, personal blogs, and videogames. Multiple tools exist to assess and document symptoms, particularly mood charts. Although all of these approaches are popular, only online psychotherapy and videogames have actually been evaluated in studies to evaluate both validity and efficacy. The face validity of social communication strategies including social media and blogs is strong, with clear implications for stigma reduction and peer support. Informational websites continue to be primary sources of psychoeducation on mental disorders. Social media sites have widespread use by the public and a profusion of health discussions and tools, but without published research evaluation of efficacy. E-health strategies, particularly online psychotherapy and tools to document symptoms, are useful and likely effective. Social communication strategies show enormous popularity, but urgently require research evaluation for impact.

Den litteraturvetenskapliga receptionsforskningen och internet

Reader-Response Criticism and the Internet: A Methodological Discussion
 This article explores connections between Internet-based research and reader-response criticism, aiming to critically discuss the methodologies used in this particular field of research. First, the history of reader-response studies is briefly presented, with reference to theorists such as Richards, Rosenblatt, Robbe-Grillet, Iser and Jauss. It is noted that, for the past 15 years, people have utilised the Internet as a basis for the discussion of literary and reading-related topics. Researchers in this field may access reviews and commentaries on open web-based venues such as personal homepages, blogs and online forums (i.e. message boards and discussion sites). The material available on these sites is interesting because of its ”spontaneous” nature; that is, such material has been formulated and uploaded without the interference of the researcher.
 The article presents one concrete example of an Internet-based reader-response study, discussing a number of pros and cons of the chosen methodology– including some important ethical considerations that arise when the researcher’s corpus is composed of material taken from the Internet. One of the conclusions of the paper is that many aspects of the general public’s web-based responses to literature are yet to be explored by the research community.

“The story God is weaving us into”: narrativizing grief, faith, and infant loss in US evangelical women's blog communities

This case study explores how US evangelical Christian “mommy blog” communities constitute spaces for the collective memorialization of infant loss. Personal religious blogs feature a rich combination of esthetics, narrative structure, description of religious practices and beliefs, reader interaction, and linked networks. Using a textual approach, I illustrate distinctive features in how pregnancy and infant loss and grief are experienced, shared and memorialized in US women's evangelical blogging communities. I argue that the blog format allows for a (re)narrativization of the devastating experience of infant loss as grieving mothers situate their traumatic personal experiences within the context of an ongoing religious narrative in which blog readers also come to participate. As the blogger tells the story of her own loss to a listening public, it becomes a larger shared story, so that it is not just the child's story but also the author's story, their family's story, and “our story” inclusive of the blog community of readers, “the story God is weaving us into,” post by post, day by day. Personal religious blogs and their reading publics, therefore, can provide a medium for the ongoing creation of meaning, faith and community in the context of infant loss.

소셜미디어에 나타난 상상적 자아이미지와 패션스타일 - 여성의 퍼스널 패션블로그를 중심으로 -

소셜미디어에 나타난 상상적 자아이미지와 패션스타일 - 여성의 퍼스널 패션블로그를 중심으로 -

A phantom to kill: The challenges for Chinese learners to use English as a global language

Very recently, the former spokesman of China's Ministry of Education launched a public attack on the national fervor for English learning in his personal blog (Xinhua News, 2013). He forcefully argued that too much time and energy has been spent on learning English as a foreign language, which has seriously jeopardized Chinese citizens’ first-language education, and called for the cancellation of English lessons in the primary school curriculum. Following this, the Beijing municipal commission of education announced its plan to reduce the English section of the National University Entrance Qualifying Exam (or gaokao) from 150 points to 100 points in major cities by 2016 so as to downplay the importance of English in the education system. A further report states that education authorities are also considering scrapping mandatory English lessons before the third grade. Shandong and Jiangsu provinces, as well as Shanghai, may remove English from the gaokao entirely (The Guardian, 2013).

Introduction to "Beyond the Subject. New Developments in Life Writing."

Following two successful conferences in Amsterdam in 2009 and in Tallinn in 2011, the third IABA Europe biennial conference, held from 31 October to 3 November 2013 in Vienna and hosted by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography, was entitled “Beyond the Subject. New Developments in Life Writing” and aimed at bridging the gap between historical forms of life writing and the most recent medial transformations in the genre of life writing, like personal websites, blogs and social networks as new spaces in the autobiographical public sphere. At the same time, the conference focused on auto/biographical practices that consciously undermine the traditional Western concept of the subject and develop alternative models of life writing. After the conference, participants were invited to submit articles based on their papers presented at the 2013 IA BA Europe conference, to be published in the European Journal of Life Writing. In this section of the journal you will find samples of the different topics that were addressed during the conference. This article was submitted on September 1st, 2014, and published on November 3rd, 2014.

Improving Coherence of The Students’ Sentences by Applying Thematic Progression And Personal Blog In The Sentence-Based Writing Class

This study was aimed at describing what kinds of thematic progressionpatterns mostly employed by the students, describing how to applythematic progression theory and personal blog in the sentence-basedwriting class, and finding out whether the use of thematic progressiontheory and personal blog give positive significances to coherence of thestudents‘ sentences. This is an action research study employing twocycles. The subject of the study was 24 students of group 2, in a class ofsentence-based writing (SBW), and the object of the study was students‘sentences created by the students in the teaching and learning process(TLP). The result of the study shows that thematic progression patternsmoslty employed by the students are constant theme pattern followed byzig zag and multiple theme patterns. In TLP, the materials were devidedand given to the students in two cycles. The first cycle focused onintroducing the thematic progression theory and its kinds of patterns.Then, in the next cycle the students focused on sharing ideas with otherclassmates via individual blogs. Based on the result of the study, teachingSBW using thematic progression theory gives its positive significance byvaried patterns used by the students. It can be seen from the analysis ofthe students‘ sentences from pretest, paragraf 1, paragraf 2, paragraf 3and posttest. The students also give positive responses upon its teaching and learning process using thematic progression and personal blogs basedon the pre and post test questionnaire data. It is hoped that the result ofthe study gives positive contribution to the students in preparing them towrite in bigger contexts - paragraph-based writing, genre-based writngand academic writing in the next coming semesters.Keywords: Mind mapping ; writing skills ; Class Action Research.

Improving Coherence of The Students’ Sentences by Applying Thematic Progression And Personal Blog In The Sentence-Based Writing Class

This study was aimed at describing what kinds of thematic progressionpatterns mostly employed by the students, describing how to applythematic progression theory and personal blog in the sentence-basedwriting class, and finding out whether the use of thematic progressiontheory and personal blog give positive significances to coherence of thestudents‘ sentences. This is an action research study employing twocycles. The subject of the study was 24 students of group 2, in a class ofsentence-based writing (SBW), and the object of the study was students‘sentences created by the students in the teaching and learning process(TLP). The result of the study shows that thematic progression patternsmoslty employed by the students are constant theme pattern followed byzig zag and multiple theme patterns. In TLP, the materials were devidedand given to the students in two cycles. The first cycle focused onintroducing the thematic progression theory and its kinds of patterns.Then, in the next cycle the students focused on sharing ideas with otherclassmates via individual blogs. Based on the result of the study, teachingSBW using thematic progression theory gives its positive significance byvaried patterns used by the students. It can be seen from the analysis ofthe students‘ sentences from pretest, paragraf 1, paragraf 2, paragraf 3and posttest. The students also give positive responses upon its teaching and learning process using thematic progression and personal blogs basedon the pre and post test questionnaire data. It is hoped that the result ofthe study gives positive contribution to the students in preparing them towrite in bigger contexts - paragraph-based writing, genre-based writngand academic writing in the next coming semesters.Keywords: Mind mapping ; writing skills ; Class Action Research.

Based on Bootstrap and Wordpress to Develop Personal Blog

With the accelerated development of the Internet, web pages have become an integral part of the Internet. But as the development speed is becoming faster and faster, a developer spends less and less time writing an integrative web, resulting in the emergence of more and more web page frameworks. When we use such frameworks, we don not have to write all of the contents, we just need to focus on the style, which in terms of the security or convenience have been greatly improved.

패션블로그에서 퍼스널 스타일 표현형식

This study aims to analyze the representation forms of bloggers' personal style on the fashion blogs and enlighten their values which can be actively applied to design and marketing in fashion industry. Image representation of fashion bloggers is reflected by the characteristics in the digital environment, which are the creative manipulation of expression and the production of virtual and fantastic images by taking advantage of the composite medium such as images, music, videos, articles, etc. Also real time updates in blog indicate the latest trends in terms of the representation of image as the actual currency. The study conducted case studies of 5 women's personal fashion blogs through the verification of a variety of global fashion media and blog ranking sites: Style Bubble, Style Rookie, The Cherry Blossom Girl, The Blond Salad, and Fashion Toast. Research findings are as follows. First, the application of creative design elements is indicated as symbolic items, self-made designs, DIY, and various mix and match emphasizing design elements such as color, patterns, proportion, etc. Second, the virtual representation is very highlighted on the story telling applied by film like production or digital effect. Third, the commercial application with mainly sponsored wardrobe and designer collaboration indicates promoting a updated trend as well as a specific brand or designer to make their business profits.

Uncovering ED: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal Blogs Managed by Individuals with Eating Disorders

Previous studies have investigated the potential harmful effects of pro-eating disorder (ED) websites. Websites, such as personal blogs, may contain eating disorder content that may hold important information as well and must be considered. Fifteen blogs hosted by the site “Tumblr” were qualitatively analyzed. Each blog owner was anonymous and all were female. Ten main themes were extracted using grounded theory: interaction, negative self-worth, mind and body disturbances, pictures, eating disorders, suicide, diet, exercise, stats, and recovery. Additional themes also appeared in the study. Results indicate that although each individual blog is unique to its owner, common concepts existed among the majority. The implications for the information in the ED blogs and directions for future research are discussed.

The Countercultural Potential of Citizen Science

What is the countercultural potential of citizen science? As a participant in the wider citizen science movement, I can attest that contemporary citizen science initiatives rarely characterise themselves as countercultural. Rather, the goal of most citizen science projects is to be seen as producing orthodox scientific knowledge: the ethos is respectability rather than rebellion (NERC). I will suggest instead that there are resonances with the counterculture that emerged in the 1960s, most visibly through an emphasis on participatory experimentation and the principles of environmental sustainability and social justice. This will be illustrated by example, through two citizen science projects that have a commitment to combining social values with scientific practice. I will then describe the explicitly countercultural organisation, Science for the People, which arose from within the scientific community itself, out of opposition to the Vietnam War. Methodological and conceptual weaknesses in the authoritative model of science are explored, suggesting that there is an opportunity for citizen science to become anti-hegemonic by challenging the hegemony of science itself. This reformulation will be expressed through Deleuze and Guattari's notion of nomadic science, the means through which citizen science could become countercultural.