81%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

That was the only time I thought of my blog, the few days before my flight to Penang, Malaysia to attend an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Workshop. I browsed the final schedule of activities and expected to see the course of blogging and podcasting.

“The Beauty of Internet”, the theme of the workshop. It felt fun to explore the world of online-community, for the computers and internet are my gadgets for an easy life. It serves as a plaything, for I’m fond of online games, simple chatting and messaging, it also maximizes my time that my projects and research will just be a mere click away.

Participating in this workshop puzzled me on many things: What about Blogging? Podcasting? And how it can help our organization for this is their main reason for this workshop?

February 17, when we arrived in Penang, Malaysia I saw a long week ahead for we will stay until the 22^nd of the month; undeniably good food, beautiful place and very hospitable people. Definitely, that was an excellent place to motivate and to learn.

Speaking of learning and motivating, here, my questions started to get answer. The participants came from the member organizations of Young Liberal and Democrats of Asia (YLDA), young people who want to be different and make a difference with their respective organizations and countries. It’s nice that all were easy to get along with; we have levelled our expectations and opened our experiences and concerns. I heard a common voice regarding specific concerns in each organization; the problems of promoting the party, the funding, and the asking of support, inspires as to work and seek remedies to our problems and of course all became excited to start the intensive course.

The first subject for everyone, “Blogging” is something I am familiar with, not only because I have been making one but this blogs is what I usually see and read on certain online campaigns linked on the websites and the one that journalist and writers usually used as their avenue of expressing their ideas and opinions.

Our resource speaker, Mr. Abe Olandres, the blogging master responsible for the making of blogs in the Philippines, amazed me a lot. He is managing the yugatech.com, which is widely visited by the different people around the globe.. I think he really had a simple site but a lot of people visits, comments and replies on his posts, what’s on it?

Mr. Olandres gave details on the importance of Internet and gave samples of best youth/political blogs. It’s interesting to know how a certain blog made a company fall, started a commotion on a country, and made someone famous, successful and rich by just managing a blog.

We all tried to make our own blog where we envisioned making also for our own respective organizations and being the way to help us in moving forward. The features of it provide an interactive way to the readers through comments area and discussions board; it is multi-media capable that we can put pictures, videos, graphics and links. Going on our favourite and preferred websites and blogs can be just a simple click on our own blog and accessible to all our visitors.

Next work for us was “Podcasting”, here we work as a group that results in very wonderful podcasts. Podcast is another tool where we can record sounds, such as conversations and music. This gives another option for websites and blog visitors to get and transmit clear messages. It also attracts more visitors to the site especially those who are not fond of reading.

All of us were excited in making our podcast and blogs that kept as awake just until the wee hours of the morning just to finished.

The one that I thought long week was seemed only an hour for our workshops ended so fast but definitely made an impact on us. Our questions and concerns were answered added with a brief overview of the past YLDA Fund Raising Seminar in Sri Lanka that Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Manila Represenative Siegrfied Herzog who addressed on how ICT knowledge can be used to search for projects and donors in our respective organization.

Exploring the world of internet in Malaysia, showed me the real features of internet – information, communication, and interaction. Blogs and Podcast which is a new source of information and avenue of interaction would be a new way for coordination, collaboration, networking and partnership not only on the national level but on the global level. Undeniably, it is the new avenue also for more freedom of expression for each one of us.

The workshop activity of YLDA is one that is timely especially on online community’s impact on youth. Mostly young people consider internet just a plaything of simple messaging and searching, others consider it just a trend or fashion.

With the new learning’s it not only my time to be active on the so-called online community but with my fellow youth as well who can work for the advancement of each one of us.