by Dean Hartman
NOT A TRIVIAL PURSUIT
Blogs
blast off
Though it may not be a household
word just yet, stay tuned: The “MerriamWebster Dictionary” did declare “blog”
the word of the year in 2004. With millions of blogs online today, and growing
acceptance by the mainstream media, the
phenomenon is becoming increasingly
hard to ignore.
Blogs have been around since the
early days of the Internet. Originally,
they began as an online record of Web
sites that a person frequented, hence the
origin of the label, a contraction of
“Web logs.” Later, they evolved into digital diaries, where the Web savvy would
document the details of their lives.
In addition to burgeoning numbers
of people logging onto the Internet,
blogs received a major boost in 1999
with the simultaneous launch of several
tools that made frequent posting convenient for the masses.
With growing numbers came growing power. In 2002, bloggers’ emphasis
on comments by Senator Trent Lott led
to a political crisis that eventually
forced him to step down as majority
leader. Two years later, CBS anchorman
Dan Rather’s investigative reporting of
President Bush’s military service record
was quickly questioned by bloggers, and
the report was soon discredited. Blogs
were now mainstream.
Today, well-known political bloggers
have crossed over into other media.
CNN even included bloggers in an
“E-lection Nite Blog Party” this past
November, featuring them in the news
network’s national election coverage.
Beyond politics, blogs have become a
popular tool for everyone from smallbusiness owners to venture capitalists.
The networking and information available 24/7 proves an irresistible attraction
for many.
14
COLUMNS, Winter 2006
Starting this fall, several LaGrange
undergrads began journaling online about
their College days, and as you might
expect, the subject matter is diverse, covering everything from trials with term
papers to weekend movie marathons.
And while the topics may sound trivial, they actually have great impact,
according to Admission representatives.
“The things that make LaGrange
special—like Jan. term and servant-leadership, the residential experience and
research time with faculty members—are
things that can’t be measured, and they’re
hard to communicate to prospective students,” says Kim Myrick, former Vice
President for Enrollment Management.
“But when they see it in a student blog,
they’re going to ‘get it’ in a more powerful way than we could communicate it.”
Today’s prospective students are
clearly children of the computer age.
Studies show that a large percentage of
them are online every day, and that nearly all of them surf the Internet at least
once per week.
A significant measure of that online
time is now devoted to “social computing,” using today’s technology to build
relationships with others. The boom in
such networking sites as Facebook and
MySpace provides just one indicator of
this skyrocketing trend.
“Students are moving away from email and chat rooms toward the social networking sites,” Myrick says. “They’re look-
Student blogger Elizabeth Story ’07, far right, paus es with friends in a photo posted on her blog from a
First Week welcome party for new students.
ing for things that are interactive and ‘real.’
“That sought-after uncensored information is how they perceive a blog. It provides a way to make the experience alive
in a personal way that plain text can’t.”
PUBLIC PLATFORM
Senior Elizabeth Story is one of the
LaGrange students who have agreed to
share a slice of college life with the rest
of the world. At first, she says, it was a
bit intimidating.
“I’ve done Facebook and other similar sites, but I’ve never journaled publicly,” says the Gainesville, Ga., native.
“But I would do anything that I could to
get more people to hear about the
College and know that this is a great
place to come.”
She believes the effort it takes to post
weekly is worth it if it helps dispel some
misconceptions prospective students
might hold about LaGrange.
“I think one of the things they’re most
hesitant about is that this is not Athens—
“This week has flown by. I
got my results back from
my LSAT—and did well!
So, now the hard part is
here. I have to sit down and
figure out exactly what I
want to do with my life.
My problem now is that I
can’t narrow it down to just
one thing! … I have to go
study for my Victorian
test—but check in next
week for some more exciting news/photos!”
—Elizabeth Story ’07
student blogger
it’s not Auburn,” she says. “So the blogs
show what’s happening on campus and
that there’s always something going on.”
Elizabeth doesn’t appear to lack for
inspiration. She pulls from her involvement with Kappa Delta sorority (as president), Hilltoppers, LaGrange Singers, the
Writing Center and Sigma Tau Delta, the
English honor society.
Blogging “keeps me active here,” she
says. “It makes me think about what I
can write about next week.”
She especially enjoys posting photos
of her full campus life—an activity that
caught some of her classmates off guard.
“Some of my friends had no idea I
was doing this, and they were like, ‘How
did I get online?’ They were excited
when their pictures popped up.”
“When I first moved up here from
Florida, I was concerned with my
activity life. Being from Miami, I
am used to diversity, which I
found at the International Club. I
am also member of Kappa Sigma
… a big part of my campus life
since these guys along with the
baseball team are the ones that I
hang out with the most.”
—José Navarro ’08
student blogger
GOING GLOBAL
REPEAT VISITORS
Taking online reality to the next step,
For a content-hungry generation,
Director of Admission Wells Shepard looks
blogs provide fresh online resources,
forward to having students blog while
they’re involved in January Interim Term.
according to College Webmaster David
Beard. “Prospective students don’t want to
(Elizabeth is, in fact, going to Ireland.)
see the same material every time they visit
In the meantime, he plans on proour Web pages,” he says. “They expect
moting the blogs via e-mails and tradiMAKING THE CONNECTION
sites to deliver new things to see and do.
tional mailings to prospective students.
“Blogs also allow the Admission
He feels sure that if students know the
Junior José Navarro hopes his blogs
Department to deliver additional mespostings exist,
provide prospective
they’ll receive hits. sages without incurring the printing and
students some
A recent study postage costs associated with traditional
points of conneccommunications.”
conducted
by the
tion with the
“The role of the Web in
For his part, he believes the blog
Research
College.
recruiting has evolved a National
Center for College addition keeps the College on pace with
“By looking at
the students it’s trying to recruit—and
my life, they can
decade in the last year.” & University
ahead of many of its peer institutions.
Admissions listed
find out about difWells Shepard
“Research shows that only 25 perreading a student
ferent things on
Director of Admission
cent of schools are doing blogs or instant
blog as one of the
campus,” he says.
messaging,” he says. “So the changes we
top 15 activities
“Maybe they’re
have been making over the last few
that students
interested in
years put us on the leading edge of
would like to do on College Web sites.
sports, or being an RA or on the RAMP
reaching out to prospective
“The role of the Web in recruiting
(freshmen mentoring) team. Or maybe
students.” ■
they’d like to be part of the International has evolved a decade in the last year,”
Club,”—all things that José takes part in Shepard says. “We’re recruiting students
who’ve never
on the Hill.
Student blogger José Navarro ’08, holding the trophy in the center, celebrates the baseball team’s victory in last year’s GASC tournament in this photo from his blog. He labeled
known a world
Coming from a metropolitan area,
he admits that as a new student he didn’t without comput- the come-from-behind win one of the “most exciting games that I have played.”
ers. They’re Web
think there was going to be anything to
savvy; that’s how
do. Now, he goes pretty much nonstop.
they prefer to get
A baseball player from outside Ft.
their information.
Lauderdale, Fla., he says he doesn’t
“We’ve
spend much time in his room. “I go
entered an era
from school to the baseball field to
where students
work out, then maybe to swim or visit
are coming to
with fraternity brothers. (He’s a memLaGrange because
ber of Kappa Sigma’s Executive
of the Web site.
Council.) Before you know it, it’s
7 o’clock and I’ve got to do homework. They’re finding
us, engaging and
“People are going to be able to see
applying online.”
what life is really like here.”
COLUMNS, Winter 2006
15