Kell1482’s Weblog

As I sit here at my computer, with the TV on, being cooled by the A/C, and the lamp light allowing me to have no problems seeing, I am even more thankful for all of the things I was unable to do last week at this exact time.  We were one of the hundreds of thousands last week that lost power due to the extreme winds.  It was not restored until Wednesday morning and wouldn’t have sent me into even more of a tizzy had I not been able to just pack up and stay at my parents for a few days.

So, this got me thinking just how much all of our new media is completely dependent upon electricity.  What were the few things that held up in this time of emergency?  Cell phones were relied on even more heavily than they normally on a day-to-day basis.  With the capabilities of Internet, GPS, and text messaging, many people were able to carry on almost as if they still had their home computer available.

However, it was the “old” media that we were still able to rely on.  When the power shut off right before the start of the Browns/Steelers game, I pulled out the battery-powered radio and although not as exciting, we still got to listen to the whole thing. 

Even though they had power, my parents were without cable or Internet and we are a family that really likes to be aware of what is happening in the news.  We were only to tune in the three local channels by antenna and then the daily newspaper was still delivered, keeping us in the loop.

It can be hard sometimes to imagine our world without all our modern conveniences, but we also must consider that we didn’t have many of them until maybe twenty years ago or so.  I guess it really makes you reconsider the media that might seem like it would become extinct and reassures us why we still need it.  How did everyone else do last week without some of your modern conveniences?

While I find it very hard to consider this blog unofficial, I realized today when thinking about the blogs I read, that Defend Youngstown is the City of Youngstown’s unofficial blog.  Phil Kidd, the creator of the Defend Youngstown movement, is a Pittsburgh native who moved back to the Youngstown area after serving as an officer in the US Army.  He believes in the revitalization of Youngstown and decided to create this image that symbolizes his passion for the Valley. 

Youngstown was built on the success of the steel mills but when all of those closed up, they took much of the spirit of the Mahoning Valley with them.  What remained were depression, corruption, and crime.  Now with a bright outlook on the future, the city is in the perfect spot to bounce back with, as Kidd puts it, “new leadership, progressive planning, and our commitment to something greater.” 

I highlight this unofficial blog because it is proof that one group of people coming together can make a big difference.  I could go on and on about the renovations and new businesses that have cropped up downtown but please just visit this blog and see for yourself. 

With no discredit to his abilities, I will say that the success of Kidd’s revolution led to his recent appointment as the City of Youngstown’s Downtown Director of Events and Special Projects.  This link is Kidd’s pledge of dedication to his current role, as he documents all the meetings and projects that he tackles within each day. 

Yes, Kidd takes blogging to a whole other level.  What has resulted though are a series of other Youngstown bloggers, all with their own perspective, that Kidd links to off of his blog.  For such a “struggling” city, as we are often labeled, I would say our community is pretty well connected.

While it is still under discussion whether or not company blogs are an acceptable way for marketing departments to gather information, we see more and more unofficial blogs popping up.  Consumers want to be heard and if a company does not provide a feedback forum for them, they will start one on their own in hopes that others just like them will contribute. 

Throughout history we have proven that two minds are better than one, so why not connect people with others, perhaps across the country or even nation, who will generate new ideas or work out existing problems.  What a company cannot control is whether these blogs generate positive buzz or damage their reputation…  I take that back, maybe they can, but we have to wonder how ethical their practices then become.

What we will come across are some “unofficial” blogs that are actually run by the company but try their hardest not to appear that way.  They find that they gain a lot of good information while still being able to moderate and keep the conversations.  It can also backfire though and consumers may become upset that they were manipulated.

Marketing departments may also choose to heavily monitor unofficial blogs but then they have to be careful how much they intrude.  The bloggers are the ones that have the choice whether they want to keep contributing.  If they feel that every negative remark they make is being defended directly by the company, they may take their comments elsewhere where they can speak more freely. 

So, if you just can’t get enough of your favorite company or maybe you’ve had too much of another one, search for an unofficial blog.  Chances are you will gain some knowledge or engage in some very worthwhile conversations with those who have interests very similar to yours.

Have we ever stopped to think about the demise of the search engine?  Probably not, because it has become such an essential part of our daily lives.  What we may need to consider soon though is how it can become more effective.

Without even thinking about it, I have realized that my past several experiences with searching have produced less than desirable results.  When we first got a computer (see below), I could stay occupied for hours just searching randomly for things that I wanted to learn about.  One website would lead me to the next and most of the information was useful.

Now, I seem to find a lot of junk out there.  I blame this partly on the spiders that pick up every little word on a page even if it is not completely what the site is about.  This is what advertisers are paying for though so I guess what I’m looking for is a way for search engines to find websites based on the overall content. 

Sometimes living in our own little worlds, I think we forget that these search engines operate on a national level and if we are looking for something local we need to do a little more prompting.  With so many GPS enabled devices nowadays we take for granted that it is aware of exactly where we are at that moment. 

I almost forgot this the other day when looking for places around the House of Blues in Cleveland.  I just started typing “restaurants near the House of Blues” then realized there are about a dozen locations across the United States.  It’s a silly, little slip up but made me think about how much more convenient search engines would be if they immediately based their results on your location.

People are now much more likely to use search engines rather than the Yellow Pages when they look something up.  I believe even small businesses should have a web presence.  I have looked for many local restaurants, just to get hours or menu choices and am disappointed when I find they don’t at least have a basic page.  This may turn me away from something that I may have initially been only slightly interested in.  If they surprised me though and have a page, I am likely to learn even more about them then I may have just by visiting.

So, while I don’t believe search engines will completely go away, I think something needs to be done to bring them along so they are as convenient as we once believed them to be.  It can be Google or Yahoo or perhaps someone else can give them a run for their money.  Either way, I think we’re ready for it.

Growing up, I always wanted to become a journalist.  I wrote my first book when I was five with the help of my mother, an English major from Mount Union College.  We never pushed to publish “Tom the Turkey,” but she instilled in me a love for creative writing.  English was my favorite subject and I eventually became editor of our high school newspaper.  All of this led me right to follow in my mother’s footsteps as a Media Studies major at Mount Union College (which probably would have also been hers if they had it at the time). 

I continued to work on the newspaper staff in college and had a wonderful professor, Dr. deSilva, for Intro to Mass Media.  His class solidified my belief that this was the major that was meant for me.  In his class, we were “forced” to read The New York Times and then given a quiz on current events each week.  As challenging as it may have seemed at the time, I now consider it a treat to pour over a copy of The New York Times.

So, I tell you all of this to back up my belief that I do not think physical newspapers will be disappearing any time soon.  I, as a 26-year-old, technology-savvy, business professional, truly enjoy getting newsprint on my hands and cutting out articles to pass along to others when appropriate. 

Without a doubt, some of this comes from my mother too, but I know there are others just like me out there.  Upon arriving home from vacation, the first thing my mom will do is check to see that all of her newspapers have been delivered.  Even though it may be old news, she reads through them and let me tell you this, this love for the news and exposure to various topics she might not pick on her own enables her to have an intelligent conversation with anyone she meets.  We also tease her because she usually ends up reading anything to us that she thinks we should know.  I can’t complain though because it has made my brother, sister, and I aware that much more exists outside the little bubble of our hometown.

My classmate, Kasey’s, found a poll on from the Newspaper Association of America that revealed of 25-34 year olds, forty one percent read the newspaper daily, and 52 percent read the Sunday paper.  Her argument is that she doesn’t think that is accurate and I really do have to agree but we have to consider the potential bias of the organization conducting the poll.  Also, through class discussion, we weren’t sure if this took into account online newspapers, so I think right now it’s hard to tell.

I can still get a weekday edition of a local newspaper for thirty five cents and the Sunday edition for just a dollar.  Many other papers are only a couple of dollars also.  So, I am optimistic that until we start seeing a steep increase in price, newspapers can still afford their publishing and staffing costs and that they are here to stay. 

When I graduated from high school, I had lots of newspapers clippings to look through to make my scrapbook.  I can’t imagine not having that for my children someday.  An electronic print out just isn’t as nice, or even a digital picture file for that matter.  So, I would like to know from you?  What do you think is the future of the print newspaper?