SWA #4

John Mohrmann
English 101:056
September 11, 2007
SWA #4

“Ideas” and my friend’s MySpace are both internet blog sites. Blogs are able to easily reach large amounts of people. Blogs provide an easy, free, way to convey your personal ideas and feelings. The “Ideas” blog is a page about different ideas or concepts a professor is pondering. He gives a short summary of an idea, and leaves it open for discussion to other bloggers. My friend’s MySpace, on the other hand, is more of just an online journal. He shares different thoughts, but mostly just rights about his life in general.
In “Ideas”, the target audience is anyone who is interested in the topics and has a valid contribution to make. The very nature of the blog is for people to present their own ideas about a situation. On each issue presented, several people have relevant solutions or additions to the issue. Most of the people who respond to the blog are exactly the type of people the author was aiming for. The author is a professor, and most of the responders are well educated individuals. I believe this is his preferred target audience. This also means that they have a common interest and ground, but do not necessarily agree. These circumstances provide for wonderful discussion. On the other hand, my friend’s MySpace is merely a place for him to discuss his personal views. This is the main difference between the two blogs.
The author of the “Ideas” blog is a professor at a law school in California. He teaches economy courses. I believe his motivation for writing is for stimulating educational intercourse. The author of my friend’s MySpace is obviously my friend. He goes to Winthrop, at home, in Rock Hill. He is the same age as I am, eighteen, and has many of my same interests. His main motivation for writing, as he has related to me, is merely another creative outlet to express his ideas.
The author of “Ideas” is constrained by the belief that all of his readers are well educated individuals, as he is. He also is constrained by the belief that his readers are as passionate about the subject matter as he is. On the contrary, my friend is constrained only by the fact that he thinks he is always right. He is usually not open to criticism.
The cause for most of the arguments in the “Ideas” blog is propositions that have been brought up by the author. He presents an idea, and then he opens it to discussion for solutions. Most arguments that arise in my friend’s blogs come from readers disagreeing with his particular views.