AARP Tackles Blogging

In my new capacity as a freelance "vlogger" (a word that was explained to me under 1 year ago - who knew it would become my "profession"), I usually start out by defining the term "vlog" to people I am attempting to interview.

My usual spiel goes something like this, "Hi, I'm Eva and I'd like to ask you some questions on camera for a Seven Days vlog."

Then they look at me funny (understandable really) and I elucidate, "a vlog is a video log, sort of like a blog." If the confused expression remains, I usually continue with, "It's a video that will be up on the Seven Days website."

There are sometimes people who nod knowingly right off the bat and cut me off with a curt, "I know what a vlog is." Strangely, these people in the "vlogging-know" are often not whom you might expect?

Thanks to AARP (courtesy of my mom), it looks like some political Seniors are getting in on the blogging wave:

“Blogging”: What’s It All About?

Have you read or heard about “blogs”? They’re the topic of much conversation in the political world. It seems like everyone wants to get a blog or has a blog or is reading or commenting on blogs. According to some observers, blogs are ushering in a new era in media and in politics – competing with traditional media (newspapers, television, and radio) in bringing commentary and news to millions of Americans and connecting people of like–minded political persuasions in conversations and debate about the issues of the day. For many of us, this brings up an obvious question – what is a “blog”? The answer is fairly simple. “Blog” is short for “Web Log”. The best way to think about these is that they are, at heart, online diaries. The only real difference between a diary you might keep at home and a blog is that blogs are public – their authors invite commentary, agreement or dissent, competing thoughts, and generate discussion. While blogs are becoming more and more established in the realm of politics, there are blogs on all types of topics – from movies to music to food to local events. These days, presidential candidates have blogs on their websites. And there are many bloggers falling across the political spectrum, from liberal to conservative to libertarian and beyond. As a sampling, below are a few links to political and media blogs that you may find interesting: Conservative Blogs: Liberal Blogs: Other Blogs: Powerline Daily Kos Hot Soup Instapundit Eschaton Public Eye(CBS) Red State Unclaimed Territory Brian Williams (NBC) The Corner on National Review Talking Points Memo The Blotter (ABC) PajamasMedia Think Progress The Politico Do you have a blog? Do you visit and read blogs? Were some of your favorite blogs not on the list? Let us know - send us a link: blog.aarp.org/feedback/2007/02/about_blogs.html