Over the coming week or so, I will be looking at a large number of milblogs for the following:
- reasons for blogs (update friends, tell good stories, correct the record, tell another side, etc)
- purpose of blog (journal, "war stories", opinion on current events, etc)
- any evident bias (pro-war, anti-war, any other possible "agenda", etc)
- any trends that I identify (changes over time, etc)
Also, let me know if you think there are any other specific items I should be looking for as I venture through the mil-blogosphere.
When I've completed the survey, I'll post what I find here on this blog. Thanks for your help!
Maj. Bruhl - I don't think I can comment here, because I don't want any of our milbloggers to think I'm picking favorites! But, there are THOUSANDS of amazing milbloggers out there, and I definitely encourage you use milblogging.com as a resource...and maybe I'll e-mail you a few urls! - Lindy Kyzer, Army PA
ReplyDeleteMajor, I think this project has merit. I agree with Lindy, there's a ton of great miblogs out there. We too in the Air Force are moving in the direction of the Amry wrt blogging. If you're ever in DC look us up. Captain David Faggard, Air Force PA. www.airforcelive.blogspot.com and www.youtube.com/afbluetube
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that you're taking on this project. The survey that you propose here asks questions that I have not seen others take on yet, but are questions that need to be addressed.
ReplyDeleteThere are only a few people who have done scholarly work on milblogs thus far. One of those people is Matthew Payne at the University of Texas. He presented a paper at the Association of Internet Researchers conference this year that you may find interesting. If you email him and tell him what you're up to, I'm sure he would be glad to send you a copy. His email is mattpayne[at]mail[dot]utexas[dot]edu.
I presented a paper at the same conference, but in 1007, on milblogger reactions to the new OPSEC regulations. That paper can be found at my website, http://seanlawson.rhetorical-devices.net/confpapers/Lawson_Loosing%20the%20Blogs%20of%20War.pdf.
You might also like to check out the work of Johanna Roering, who is writing a Ph.D. dissertation on milblogging. Here blog is at http://johannaroering.wordpress.com/.
Finally, in a recent publication, UNC Chapel Hill communication professor, Cori Dauber, discusses milblogging. See Dauber, Cori E. “Life in Wartime: Realtime War, Realtime Critique; Fighting in the New Media Environment.” In Military Life: The Psychology of Serving in Peace and Combat, Vol. 4 Military Culture, edited by Thomas Britt, Carl Castro, and Amy Adler, 180-210. 2006.
Anyway, I hope that you find some or all of that useful. I also look forward to seeing the results of your work.
Sean Lawson, Ph.D.
Department of Communication
University of Utah
http://seanlawson.rhetorical-devices.net
Thanks for the links and recommended literature, Professor Lawson. All are helpful ... there's sure no need to redo something, and I'd much prefer to put my effort into answering questions that have yet to be answered or in compiling thoughts into recommendations for changing policy. Thank you for your input and I look forward to your feedback along the way.
ReplyDeleteI'd love you to include my little blog in your survey at The Stone Report.
ReplyDeleteAdam, I'll include yours in the survey. I had checked yours out a while ago - you've got a neat balance of stories about your activities and personal musings.
ReplyDeleteAfter trying to compile a list from the 1000s that are out there, and reading a comment on Sean's website, I think I'll use Milblogging.com's Top 100 as my starting point (maybe the top 25 to begin with) and will add others that I've come across and those you've left here for me.