The BBC discovers blogging
November 14, 2005 1:25 PM   Subscribe

The riots in Paris have becomes such a popular topic for bloggers that even the BBC have noticed, even going as far to produce a TV news package (H.264 video, AAC audio, in MP4 container) about blogging.
posted by Mwongozi (21 comments total)
 
The video is a self-link, but only as far as hosting it goes. I don't work for the BBC! Meta
posted by Mwongozi at 1:26 PM on November 14, 2005


Good idea on the coral cache link... working nicely so far. Downloading at almost 400KB/sec.
posted by Malor at 1:36 PM on November 14, 2005


Solana Larson's cute!

52% of US teens have their own weblog? That sounds like a huge overestimation, doesn't it?
posted by ColdChef at 1:37 PM on November 14, 2005


Looks like the video's going to take a while so I'll pop back when I've seen it, but the idea that the BBC have only just noticed weblogging is a bit odd. You can hardly listen to Radio 4 for an hour without someone pronouncing the word 'blogosphere' with the correct level of distaste. Even BBC Scotland have run items on weblogging.

Not unrelated: three people are being prosecuted by the French authorities for posting inflammatory stuff on their blog (literally - they were trying to coordinate arson attacks).
posted by jack_mo at 1:38 PM on November 14, 2005


ColdChef: 52% of US teens have their own weblog? That sounds like a huge overestimation, doesn't it?

Haven't read nearly the whole thing, but there was a recent Pew Internet & American Life Project report on Teen Content Creators and Consumers...the gist of it being:

"American teenagers today are utilizing the interactive capabilities of the internet as they create and share their own media creations. Fully half of all teens and 57% of teens who use the internet could be considered Content Creators. They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations."


(sorry for the vague derail...continue)
posted by tpl1212 at 1:43 PM on November 14, 2005


52% of US teens have their own weblog? That sounds like a huge overestimation, doesn't it?

Not really. The vast majority of US teens (96%) are on the internet already. A little over half of them having a blog isn't too hard to imagine.
posted by wakko at 1:43 PM on November 14, 2005


The rendering of the file is very strange on my computer...watchable, but it's jammed into the upper half of the rendering screen.
posted by Malor at 1:44 PM on November 14, 2005


Oh, got it now and that IHT story is the starting point.

I'm only getting glitchy audio and a frozen image of a surprised lady (I have a rubbish old computer), but it sounds like a pretty decent report. Certainly better than the total nonsense about weblogs you used to get on the telly two or three years ago.

News 24 are normally pretty good on technology and web stories.
posted by jack_mo at 1:46 PM on November 14, 2005


I suppose it could be an accurate number, it just seems...really high to me. I know plenty of teenagers, but I don't think any of them are blogging. I'll ask around, though.
posted by ColdChef at 1:47 PM on November 14, 2005


People blogging about current events? This IS news!
posted by Doohickie at 1:55 PM on November 14, 2005


I wonder about the 52% of teens thing. Is that the number of blogs where the person identifies as teenaged, divided by the number of teens? If so, it doesn't fly because my son has at least 3 blogs, so there could be two teens counted as bloggers, that aren't.
posted by Doohickie at 1:57 PM on November 14, 2005


They might be including any teen with an account to a site that lets you have a free blog (myspace, friendster, etc).
posted by mikeh at 2:14 PM on November 14, 2005


Doohickie, that's what I thought too.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:18 PM on November 14, 2005


From the teen sites that I have seen, they have three entries and then are never used again, and all three entires are worthless unless you like entires that read "Sorry guys. Nothing to report today. Slept late. Had a dentist appointment." or "Whoah did Jimbo get ripped last nite."
posted by maxsparber at 2:19 PM on November 14, 2005


h2g2, on the BBC network for years now, has been around since '99. While it's not just blogging, there is a strong element in there.
posted by IronLizard at 3:35 PM on November 14, 2005


Eh, various parts of the BBC have been blogging for ages. I believe BBC News Online has had a Newsblog for interesting issues for the past year or two, and of course they've had any number of stories about blogging in the Tech section. Out of the major broadcasters around the world, the BBC is right up there in terms of being tech-aware (Creative Archive, anyone?)
posted by adrianhon at 3:57 PM on November 14, 2005


it's ok, for every teen with three bogs, there are 2 teens with -1 blogs, so it all works out in the end.
posted by blue_beetle at 5:06 PM on November 14, 2005


52% of teens having their own blog seems just about right to me - considering that a lot of high school current-eventy courses assign blogging as a side project. Personally, I'm in such a rut with my blog reading habits that I'd happily spend a month reading what the average teen has to say about things than my usual morning bookmarks.
posted by slatternus at 7:27 PM on November 14, 2005


52% of US teens have their own weblog? That sounds like a huge overestimation, doesn't it?

Not really. The vast majority of US teens (96%) are on the internet already. A little over half of them having a blog isn't too hard to imagine.

Of course it is. Anyone with any contact with that age segment would know that. 96 percent of teens having the internet (which itself is a bs number and I'm sure includes any teen that has picked up a mouse) proves nothing.

Seriously, if you think you can walk through a mall in america and over half of the teens you ask have blogs you're sadly mistaken (or more likely simply old). I mean, getting a kid to write anything at all is a miracle today. Over half writing on their own? Dream on.
posted by justgary at 8:09 PM on November 14, 2005


jack_mo; try upgrading to the latest version of Quicktime, or try VLC.

Thanks odinsdream - the problem was just that I was using my old clamshell iBook at the time, which can't really handle H.264. It plays like a dream on my newer iBook. (And now I want a Topfield like Mwongozi's!)
posted by jack_mo at 6:27 AM on November 15, 2005


Seriously, if you think you can walk through a mall in america and over half of the teens you ask have blogs you're sadly mistaken...

Err, I'm thinking the ones blogging are at home playing World of Warcraft rather than hanging out at the mall.

But I gotta agree that those numbers are waaaaay too high.
posted by LordSludge at 7:15 AM on November 15, 2005


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