And Now, A Quick Class Assignment

Three different posts from the same blog:

1) Exclusive: I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax

2)Seven Halloween Costumes to Avoid

3)Twitter CEO's Mockery: We 'Were Laughing at Those Media Guys'

What's different about them? What's the same? Well...to start off, each of these blog posts are dealing with current events. Granted, they are popular current events, big in the media for their entertainment value and not exactly their vital importance to the world-at-large. Political humor (i.e. Sarah Palin Halloween costumes), Blogger tech and what's big in that world (the Twitter craze), and the latest crazy news headline (Balloon Boy)...everyone knows about these things. Everyone reads about them and has their own opinion about them.

What's different about each blog post is their individual amount of gravity. Each of them incorporate some sort of humor, just because of the topics. But the post about Twitter is the most matter-of-fact, while the post on Halloween costumes definitely meets the criteria for silliest. The Balloon Boy post sits somewhere in the middle, mostly because the topic is so ridiculous, outrageous even, that it's kind of hard to believe...you might even want to think that it's a joke. But it's not. It's 100% true and it's splashed all over the internet media outlets.

This blog reaches out to a large audience, but it's definitely the younger generations that are going to read all of this and understand it. Techies, gossips, and CNN-a-holics alike will find what they want to read on this blog, and won't be disappointed.

Entertainment + Relevance + Information = A Readable Blog

Sooo Ironic.

My professor asked us to write a short piece about a beat blog that we've heard of, been following, or just got into, and keep up with it for the duration of the semester. I chose "Stuff White People Like." I read a hilarious article on this website before they got a book deal, I think it was about a year ago, and I've checked up on the site regularly since. Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't, in any case, here's my take on why this thing is so successful:

The blog “Stuff White People Like” has kind of taken the nation by storm in the past year. It uses backhanded sarcasm and wit so flawlessly executed even the irony-loving middle-class white people who read it might have some trouble interpreting every entry as just “a joke.”

The truth behind the stereotype is what keeps this blog going. They’ve even gotten a book deal! And with over 30 million hits, it’s not hard to see why. We love to read about ourselves. And face it; we love politically-incorrect humor, just so long as it’s implemented in a way that lets the satirically-perceptive…well…perceive the satire.

With numbered entries like “#120: Taking a Year Off,” for the perpetually free-spirited college student, and “#114: America,” after the 2008 Presidential Election, one can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous accuracy with which Christian Lander has pegged the hipster generation in this society.

What some may find offensive, Lander explains on the about section of the blog, is the gut-reaction so many people have to stereotyping, especially when it comes to race. He makes his argument by pointing out that the blog “is not filled with hateful or negative stereotypes and it’s not meant to incite anger or demean white people,” nor is it truly about race. It’s a good-natured, comedic way of revealing the ideals of an entire generation. What this blog is meant to do is help people laugh at themselves, and apparently we needed the lesson, because “Stuff White People Like” is nowhere near its peak.