Showing posts with label deaf bloggers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deaf bloggers. Show all posts

Friday, February 04, 2011

My thoughts on investigative blogging.....

Let me expand a bit about what I blog when people think what I do is an attack versus doing my usual investigative blogging that I do often such as the latest on campus rape issue. Plus I blog on a variety of issues and subjects that interest me....and not about whether if it interests you. That's not my goal. Either you like my blogging style or you don't.  That has always been my nature.

Had there had been a legitimate, integrity-driven journalist entity within the so-called Deaf community, wouldn't those issues had already been reported or looked into? But we don't see that, do we? Instead people seem to be content on Deaf News and BnB to do stories that are mostly the benign stuff. Important? Sure, but they're still mostly the benign stuff.

For example, has the BnB done any serious, in depth journalistic work about rape, alcoholism, miscommunication issues, and other such investigative work on campus? Any real in depth investigative work they've done? What about other bloggers? If so, let me know.  Or do they mostly do the commentary type of writings and try and keep to a safe leash instead? So far as for BnB they've already retracted a mismanaged article they did. Had it been in print instead of an electronic publication of that same Wirick article they wouldn't have had the easy convenience of retracting a story with the hope that it would quietly disappear. And to boot, it has been almost two months and no update to the public as to why they retracted their story or whether they'll issue an apology for their own mismanagement when their excuse for pulling it has to do with "safety concerns." Something is not adding up over there. We see hearing people who do investigative journalism on other hearing people or organizations to help expose the truth or at least question things that seems to be amiss. Yet, but when it comes to Deaf people, it's verbotten? Why? Something to hide? Skeletons in the closet? What?

Interesting.

And perhaps if the BnB, other similar "Deaf news" type of reporting and other bloggers had any journalistic gumption then they would have already investigated those stories. Right? But somebody did that once in the past some years ago who wrote an investigative piece and was summarily threatened with bodily harm on campus for doing such an investigative piece that deserved to be investigated. Makes ya wonder about the idiocy out there.

I like what J.P.R. had to say about what I do:
You are like Yang (or Yin, it does not matter which one) that must exist to counterbalance Yin (or Yang). If you stop, Yang will diminish or disappear and Yin will overpower the blogsphere. That is bad.


Please keep blogging on.


Joseph Pietro Riolo

Just keeping the balance here whether ya'll like it or not. Otherwise it'd be a boring, boring deaf/hh blogosphere out there. No? Okay, perhaps a bit of an exaggeration there but you get my drift.

What I do has nothing to do with malice but of concern and the desire to go deeper in the hope to bring up underlying issues that are essentially "verbotten" for the lack of a better word here.  I don't use Godwin's law or bring up reminiscences of Nazism or use Nazi-analogies about the so-called eugenics and such, and go about labeling using the a-wordism and other similar "wordism" at work with such ferocity you'd think it's a serious case of dysfunctionalism at work out there. 

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Six Year Anniversary of Kokonut Pundit

Yay! Well, not quite but that's a week away and I just wanted to put this out just in case I forget. I'm well underway very soon to start into my 7th year as a blogger of Kokonut Pundit.  Even though I am known as one of the more prolific and well known blogger among many deaf/hh bloggers. I've done 198 blogs so far this year. You can see the number of blogs in the left column of my blog page under "Blog Archive" that shows total number of blogs for each year and month. And as of today since January 1, 2010 (286 days so far) I've blogged on average 0.7 blog/day (198 blogs/286days = 0.7).  Or on average 5 blogs per week (0.7 * 7 = 4.9).

The most I've ever blogged was 471 blogs in 2005 or 1.3 blogs per day or 9 blogs per week. That's when I was really into blogging in my 2nd year as a blogger. But altogether 2186 days (or almost 7 years) I've produced 1609 blogs which turns out to be 0.73 blog/day if you calculate the whole thing.

For bloggers the most common rate of updating their blog is 2-3 times per week on average and not 2 to 3 blogs per day as some might say. I can see how some people might be mathematically-challenged to even say that. Also, approximately 20% of all bloggers update their blog on a daily basis. I'm not quite there since I don't quite blog on daily basis nowadays but back in 2005 and 2006 I was blogging on average a little more than 1 blog a day.

Happy?

When it comes to the deaf/hh/Deaf blogging community no where have I ever come across a blogger who have blogged on average 2 to 3 blogs a day. Anybody who says that need to take remedial math and learn how to compare actual numbers of blogs done each day, week, month or year to get your unit average for well known deaf/hh/Deaf bloggers.  So, please, next time, exercise some caution for a change instead of making things up along the way like the number deaf people that get arrested each year...on average. It doesn't pay to throw numbers around without any real validity or proper research into it. Your reputation could be a stake if you try and ignore that process.

Also, I don't sit around and plan for my blogging topics. Many are on spur-of-the-moment blogs when I get an idea from somewhere on the what I want to blog about. Usually it takes me anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to do some quick research, get some links, or just take my time to put my thoughts into words on my blog. It just comes to me in most cases on what I want to blog about. No days and days of planning while I have my pinky finger inserted into my lips thinking up of diabolical plans and cast ruins upon the world......mwaahahahaha!  I'm like you guys, I get my inspiration and then I blog it.

Simple.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Did Fookem & Bug get punk'd?



Maybe "punk'd" is the wrong word but I have a few questions about the "award"badge seen on the Fookem & Bug website that they pasted on seen on the right side of their main page near the top (see screen capture of Fookem & Bug with the badge award picture). The blog award badge says "TOP HEARING IMPAIRED BLOG 2010. AWARD WINNER" and clicking on that badge links you to the Medical Assistant Schools "top hearing impaired" web page that lists "hearing impaired"....uh... "blog winners" including some of the well known and recognized blogs like Candy, E?What?Huh?, Jared Evans Global Microbrand, An American Mom in Tuscany, and Dorkette:Exposed.


Eh?What?Huh?
http://www.ehwhathuh.com/

Found in Blank
http://www.foundinblank.com/

The Frost Village Blog
http://frostvillage.com/blog/

Adreanaline
http://www.adreanaline.com/blog/

Grumpy Old Deafies
http://www.grumpyoldeafies.com/

Deaf Special Needs
http://www.deafspecialneeds.com/

Show of Hands
http://aslperformingarts.blogspot.com/

Diversity In Deafhood
http://deafprogressivism.blogspot.com/

Ben Fletcher
http://benfletcher.wordpress.com/

Big Ben Factor
http://bigbenfactor.wordpress.com/

Sharlyn Ayotte's Blog
http://billyclarkstudios51.blogspot.com/

Candy
http://candysweetblog.wordpress.com/

Deaf Chef At Large
http://www.deafchefatlarge.com/

Tactile The World
http://tactiletheworld.wordpress.com/

Just Singin' & Singin' in the Sun
http://danielgreene.com/

Hearing Mojo
http://hearingmojo.com/

Deaf Chipmunk
http://deafchipmunk.com/

Deaf Civil Rights Movement
http://deafcivilrightsmovement.wordpress.com/

Deaf411 Online v\Blog
http://deaf411online.com/blog/

Deafinitely Girly
http://www.deafinitelygirly.com/

Going Deaf
http://denareiter.blogspot.com/

Donald's Deaf\hard Of Hearing Technology Blog
http://prosumertech.blogspot.com/

Liz's Deaf Blog
http://l1zblog.wordpress.com/

My Opinion Here
http://geminisigner.blogspot.com/

Fookem And Bug
http://fookembug.wordpress.com/

Campaining For Deaf Children
http://iannoon.wordpress.com/

J. Parrish Lewis
http://jparrishlewis.com/

Through a Deaf Lens
http://www.thedeaflens.com/

Jared Evans Global Microbrand
http://www.jaredlog.com/

The Deaf Edge
http://deafpundit.wordpress.com/

Deaf Politics Blog
http://blog.deafpolitics.org/

An American Mom In Tuscany
http://rallycapsdotnet.blogspot.com/

Crazy Deaf Joe Blog
http://www.crazydeafjoe.net/

Curse Of Silence
http://ilsordo.blogspot.com/

ABC
http://johnlestina.blogspot.com/index.html

Deaf Women In Film
http://dwif.blogspot.com/

Love Daddy
http://www.lovedaddy.org/

A Deaf Mom
http://deafmomworld.com/

The Dream You Are living Is Your Creation
http://jimikiwi.blogspot.com/

Dorkette:Exposed
http://gnarlydorkette.blogspot.com/


Besides Fookem & Bug that got punk'd there are a few others that also displayed the badge award on their website such as an ASL website called Show of Hands where you can see the award badge seen at the bottom of their webpage, and Deaf Women in Film has that badge award, too. Out of a list of 40 blog "winners" three blogsites actually displayed this bogus award badge that links to a spam/bogus website.

I might understand how others may have put that blog award badge on their blog/website but Fookem & Bug? I'd at least expect these Deaf guys to question such an award badge, especially when it when it comes to controversial words that may offend the sensibilities of some Deaf people like "hearing impaired." And that it came from a website designed to point people as "one-stop" shop on getting your online degree in medical assistance. If you didn't know it you can tell it's a spam website if you spotted the statement on their award page where it says:


These blogs will cover topics ranging from prevention tips to treatment.

That was a red flag right there. Now, tell me. What are the odds that these blogsites will cover medical topics on hearing loss on prevention tips and medical treatments?

Right. It's a spam website.

Also, notice the link address that lists the "Top 40 Hearing Impaired Blogs" and look at the bolded part I outlined:

http://www.medicalassistantschools.org/top_hearing_impaired

From that URL layout and recognizing it as a spam website I did a quick Google search and sure enough there are several other disabilities sites that the Medical Assistant Schools website list as part of their fake "Top Blog Award" campaign effort.

Here's the screen capture of my Google search result.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Fookem & Bug, and others, you've been PUNK'D!

And who would've thought this could ever happen?

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Dying or Dead Deaf/HH Blogs and beyond Resurrection

It was bound to happen, former well known and popular Deaf/HH blogs suddenly or slowly disappear into oblivion, with a few of them reaching out from beyond in a final gasp of desperation. Click on a once popular blog and you may see one last posted blog a year old already. Or find out that address is no longer. Or something worse.

Blogging takes a lot effort to keep it going while trying to be fresh, informative, fun, irratating or whatever just to keep loyal readers coming back for more or just something to fill their day. I know, I'm one of them. And I thought I was finished, too. Eventually, bloggers have their fill and move on. Including, me, though not sure when that will come.

You can go to DeafBlogs.net and click some of the familiar names there and you'll find they're no longer active or not there anymore and see a shocking page instead (even Deafblogs.net is dying).

Go to the Deafblogs.net list of blogsites and click on Banjo's Space and it'll take you here. Shocking pictures. Gratiutous display of skin. Even though Banjo's other blog has since been discontinued since July 2009 though it kept coming back as you can see by reading it.

Or go to Elisa Abenchuchan's webpage and see her last post on December 2006. The last of the rah rah days of Gallaudet's Deaf Protest.... zzzzzzzzzzz........whatzzat?

Or Deaf in the City. Last blog in March of 2008.

Or DeafScribe which continues to blog since 2004 but has been reduced to Twittering instead. Are we becoming Twits nowadays?

Or see that Gnarly Dorkette gone to the wayside lamenting the lack of anonymity in her own blog since her last blog in November 2009.

Key Lime Pie? Gone.

All of the DeafDC bloggers like Tayler Mayer's have now the famous orange "account suspended" webpage. And I think I know why, too, if you read The Day DeafDC Died.

Or Dave E's The Sandman's Sandbox on Blogspot stopped in 2006 to transfer over to a new blogsite Mr. Sandman's Sandbox whose last blog piece was in January 2009.

The "The Countdown to the Resurrection" looks to be largely to have died and unresurrected on it's own with its last blog piece in September 2009. Though not to mention the unmentionable's original blogsite as a mass grave of words buried there with a last gory entry in April 2009 after a previous one in November 2008 in the attempt to reach out beyond the blogger grave.

So, what are other blogs that I've missed that are no longer active or functioning? Let us know. Can anybody name some of the longest running deaf/hh blogs that used the same blogsite address ?

Saturday, February 06, 2010

EMPOWERMENT IN THE DEAF COMMUNITY:ANALYZING THE POSTS OF INTERNET WEBLOGS

Here's an August 2009 Masters of Art thesis paper entitled: Empowerment in the Deaf Community: Analyzing the Posts of Internet Weblogs. In this paper it covered several well known deaf/hh blogs or "the nine amazing bloggers whose words can inform the world of the strength of their community," such as Kokonut Pundit, Fookem and Bug, Ear of My Heart, Ridor Live, Woparsb, Mishka Zena, Berke Outspoken, and The Deaf Edge (see page 38). Though the person who did the thesis tried to guess our age but missed mine by a decade. No contacts were made by the author of this study in order to reduce any interference or biasing.

In 2007 when the study began, several criteria were established to weed out 366 blogs where eight blogs remained (see page 34, note that Fookem and Bug is one blog with two bloggers). The thesis goes on to explain about the bloggers and the 416 posts (from April to June of 2007) that were analyzed:
this research examined personal and community empowerment in Deaf individuals as evidenced in 416 blog posts by nine individuals who are members ofthe DeafRead community. Common elements of empowerment found in the literature across a variety of disciplines include: evidence of valued social roles, improving others’ perceptions of oneself or ones’ own self image, overcoming stigma, changing or improving the community, informing the community and sharing expectations of what the community’s abilities. These elements constitute the framework for the current study. The study examined the degree to which Deaf bloggers discussed their sense of personal empowerment in their blog posts and the degree to which the content of Deaf blog posts advocated for community empowerment for their readers.
"Members of the Deafread community"? I don't see it that way but rather it's simply an aggregator site where you can submit your blog URL address to get it listed. No more different than Deaf Village as an aggregator site.

Secondly, the thesis goes on to describe Deaf bloggers which is incorrect since not all deaf bloggers are Deaf but deaf or hard of hearing. Just because one has a blog listed in Deafread does not make that person a Deaf blogger. I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted for the author to label me as a Deaf blogger, which I'm not. A deaf blogger, yes. A hard of hearing blogger, yes. That was the author's mistake to assume a blogger's identity without asking first.

All in all, this thesis study put out a good effort to analyze Deaf bloggers (and not so much for Deaf, deaf, and hh bloggers) and their role in the Deaf community, empowerment efforts and such. Although the author neglected to even consider the deaf and hard of hearing communities in her research of those born with a hearing loss or acquired it later in life.