Blogging Posted by Tony Evans

Telling your life story or voicing one's opinions is a dream that every human being has had once in their life. It is understandable that some may want to broadcast this in a variety of mediums and some are successful, however there are also those that are not and those who wish not to be known to others or share their experiences with the world. I am no celebrity but a mere mortal of this little, big planet that the homo sapiens inhabits with a number of other creatures. Today, I've taken the step, one I'm sure I'll look back on in the future. I've entered into a chapter of my life now to be known as 'The Blogging Period'. This may be short lived, it may be long lived, either way it is happening. Brenda, someone I follow on Twitter, this morning tweeted the following words: I am looking for #Gibraltar based blogs, if you have one please tweet me the URL thanks x On my way to work around the time of this tweet I was very quick to respond with full knowledge of a few friends out there who had just what Brenda was keen on discovering. Ever a good samaritan, tweets went back and forth with different URLs that I had found online. At the time I had no inclination that at the other end of today would I be writing my very first, personal blog. I suppose as a graduate I should ensure that there are a few academic references here as there may be a student on this Earth that wishes to use my material for theses and all that malarky. Never really been much a fan of the system and after three years of it somehow it'll creep back up upon me without warning. My first step is to describe what a blog is and Google Dictionary says: A personal website on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis Sarah Pedersen (2010) in her book Why blog?: Motivations for blogging states that we use blogs to provide others with additional knowledge on certain aspects of daily life and events. She makes it clear that blogs are not just a personal source but may also be valuable for use by an organisation. Blogs are a important tools for the collection and transformation of information which can be used to influence the actions of people. Politicians have adapted to the information age that we live in by taking to creating and maintaing a blog to document their campaigns and voice their opinions. It has been evident in the recent elections in Gibraltar that we have reached an age where the young are heavily reliant on what they can read that is readily available online. That is not to say that there are other generations that appreciate the era that we have entered or that they do not use the same resources but that it is more likely for a person who spends most of their day on the internet and social networks that appreciates and incorporates this media more easily. Facebook, Twitter and the party websites were key elements in the election campaigns and the supporters went to many ends to defend their parties and also influence others to vote. Never before has the idea of social media and the web been so important and I believe there is much more to come in the future. Antoinette Pole analyses the political blogging in the book, Blogging the political (2010) and how it is advancing and influencing voting.

In 2005, Hugh Hewitt describes in the title of his book Blog: understanding the information reformation that's changing your world that blogs are ousting the monopoly of the media and allowing the general public to have far much more power than they've had previously. A blog is the perfect way to report but it is suited more to individual views. This in essence allows journalists of newspapers to go beyond article writing and have the ability to provide the readers with an extended outlook on their reports. Gibraltar is no stranger to blogging with a huge coverage of local, Robert Vasquez and his blog Llanito World. Robert has recently closed the blog which is a treat to read. Other bloggers include local journalist, Brian Reyes, the Gibraltar Museum and Daniel Griffin. It is probably no surprise then that a local lawyer and political figure, Selwyn Figueras is also an active member of the Gibraltar blogging community. A journey of adventure based on the Rock is probably one of the most famous local blogs going to date and as a member of the local Twitterati, Giblogswallop gives readers an exciting view on life in and around Gibraltar. So finally, we have this blog and the start of something new...Invicta animi! The words invicta animi translate to something like 'unconquerable' or 'invincible mind', whichever Google feels it likes at the time (suppose this is what happens when you randomly ask it to make things up for you). This describes my way of thought. I often stick very closely to my guns, even if I am outnumbered (some think it is respectful apparently) but you do not get anywhere by always taking a bow and neither does one progress if they continously reject other views.