Podcasting & Blogging?
If you've ever hankered for a life on the international stage, now it's easier than ever to achieve. Forget years training as a DJ or TV presenter and don't give a moment's thought to suffering the embarrassment of the pop idol competitions - with access to a computer, a video camera and the internet, within minutes you can be sharing your superstar qualities and thoughts on life with the world.
Today we're looking at podcasts and blogging.
What is a podcast?
A podcast is an audio or video file that is published on the internet. Podcasts can be downloaded and played on a computer or portable multimedia device (ie MP3 player or mobile phone).
What is a blog?
A blog (short for weblog) is an online journal or ideas dump that others can view. The author of a blog is typically referred to as a blogger and their blogs may include text, images, graphics and other files.
Popular podcasting and blogging sites include www.youtube.com, www.itunes.com, www.bebo.com, and www.myspace.com.
With podcasts or blogs you can present personal opinions and social commentary or things that just seem plain whacky. More usefully, podcasts and blogs are now popular means of quickly disseminating public service and news information.
A recent example of this is how the public found out about the Virginia Tech massacre in which 32 people were killed. People were going directly to podcast and blog sites for news updates rather than using traditional media channels of radio and TV.
Organising them ...
A podcast is able to be cataloged in various podcasting directories. You can easily search for content and automatically download new episodes. Once you have found the podcast you want to subscribe to, simply click the subscribe button and the podcast will be downloaded automatically, ready for you to play.
The good side ...
With podcasts and blogs anyone can express their ideas and talents to a worldwide audience. Pop stars have been discovered, great ideas have been shared and a lot of laughs have been had. Companies are using them as a fresh means of communicating with customers. People are learning new skills like video editing and audio recording.
The darker side ...
Many of these internet sites involve posting personal information which opens up access to internet predators and fraudsters. It also very easy to post unflattering and misleading information or images and this has lead to bullying and embarrassment.
So aim to have some fun with podcasts and blogs but remember that your content is available to a vast audience and that not everyone has good intentions.
Bill Brown is the Head Nerd Guru for Need A Nerd nationwide.
He also appears on the Tech Tuesday radio show with Danny Watson on NewstalkZB and writes articles for various Need A Nerd publications around the country
Leave a Reply
Subscribe by RSS