Today, I decided to go on the Dot Earth Blog. When I got there, I typed in "fish" because it is my major, and therefore holds my primary interest for the environment. There were various different articles, but one that certainly caught my eye was the one called "White Sharks Cause Stir on Cape Cod". Now, this was not the typical fish article that I was looking for, but it caught my interest. This summer, I spent a lot of time at Hyannis on Cape Cod, which is a short 40 minute boat ride from the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham. I had been hearing gossip about the sharks through my mother and some professors, so I decided to read up on it.
Monomoy wildlife refuge happens to be a hot spot for thousands of seals. Apparently, the great white sharks have noticed the abundance of food in this area.
Dot Earth Blog's article discussed how Marine biologists for the state of Massachusetts tagged two of the sharks (as of September 6th, on September 8th, three more were tagged: for more information about the other tagged, visit The Boston Globe) and how beaches in Chatham were still closed due to recent shark activity. It also mentioned how great it was that Massachusetts was taking a lead on the shark research.
After reading this article about the sharks, beaches closing, and efforts to gain a greater understanding of these monsters, I thought it would be a good idea to read the comments. Honestly, I was embarassed for some people and their comments. One consisted of, ">duh duh--------duh duh------duh duh duh duh duh duh duh doodle doo ! Your gonna need a bigger boat." Honestly? Do people seriously go on well- known blogs, such as the Dot Earth Blog, and respond with stupid things like that? As I scrolled through the 18 comments under this article, I realized that only a few were slightly intelligent and not "Duhh its gunna be another Jaws duhh". Most people were civil, but they again only presented one side of the arguement. There was a lot of, "so what if the sharks are there, don't close the beaches. you are more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark". Well, yeah I guess thats a nice little statistic you've got there, but again, why do you think people are closing beaches? Maybe due to safety? And maybe thats why the statistic is lower, because beaches are closed when sharks are sighted. After reading through the comments, and again, only seeing a few that sounded slightly intelligent, I thought about what makes a good blog comment.
How do you accurately comment on a blog? Well, using this shark issue as an example, a good post is obviously not "haha its gunna be jaws again". That just makes you sound like an idiot. And again, a good post is "well people are just overreacting. just open the beaches". Well why are people overreacting? And what is their side of the arguement, even if you do not agree with it, it should still be presented. This all brings me to a good blog comment. A good blog comment should contain your opinion, such as, " I think it is great that Marine biologists are tagging these sharks. It is going to be highly valuable information when they retrieve the information from the tags on the sharks. These tags should further expand our understanding of the sharks, their migratory habits, and just how close they get to Chatham beaches. Though closing the beaches is terrible for all people who use the beaches and plan vacations there, it is a lot safer than not warning people. Maybe a swim at your own risk sign should be put up for those who feel the need to swim in the shark infested waters? Anyways, the tags should do great things for shark research, which would give us further information about where they travel, which would give us a better understanding as to whether or not beaches should be closed". Now, I am not saying that is perfect, but it is a whole lot better than a lot of the things I was seeing on the Dot Earth Blog's website.
So, after reading this, I think our class is doing pretty good on our blog comments back and forth, and even our posts. Good job everyone!
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It always bothers me when people respond to blog posts with unintelligable answers. Even if what they write can be understood, their words won't be taken seriously if the information they present is not really appropriate or informational. Blog posts should be a representation of people's opinions and their reasoning behind them. Obviously, not everyone puts a lot of time into writing their responses, which just shows that they have little interest in the issue at hand.
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