Here is a blogger who works hard for the world by joyfully connecting one blog to another. More than 3000 Internet users visit his blog 'Ring Blog - His Own Idea'. Weekly Hanyang interviewed Myung, Seung Eun, the CEO of 'Tatter & Media'.

Footmarks on the Internet World

Alumnus Myung first started his career as a reporter of a magazine. Many of his first articles from the small magazine were spread out and hidden in every nook and cranny of the Internet world. His articles existed somewhere but were not in his possession. In 2002, Myung started this blog as a place to collect and save his articles.

"People used to have their own domains for their blogs and were single-oriented when blogs were first introduced to the Internet. Later, blogger communities started forming with 'Track-back' systems, 'Widgets' and 'Linking methods' between posts. The notion of a bloggers' community with the new system became known as the 'Ring Blog'. This means that all blogs are tied to each other. The reason I named my blog the 'Ring Blog' was to introduce a brand new chapter of communication among blogs. I suggested to my reporter colleagues that they join the 'Ring Blog' system but nobody supported me so it became my own 'Ring Blog'. Actually the original name of my blog was 'His Own Idea'."

'Single person media’ blogs are considerably significant. Bloggers are able to suggest and share thousands of opinions on every topic posted through their blogs. Influential bloggers can even make money through their blogs.

People have many reasons and purposes for operating their own blogs. Most bloggers, however, desire to be a 'Power Blogger'. Weekly Hanyang asked alumni Myung how to be a 'Power Blogger'.

"I would give the same answer if people asked me how to speak English well (laughing). You should be steady and enthusiastic. The main purpose of operating my blog is to share my stories with other people. Others have the same motivation as well. When I listen carefully to what other people are saying, then they will give attention to what I am saying. Power bloggers were already in existence when I began operating my blog. I visited the sites of power bloggers who shared my interests. Then I pointed out what they had missed and I dug further into the field to find some of the things that they didn’t even notice and made comments. From my comments, I got track backs, and I wrote things about what the power bloggers had posted. Listening is the most important thing you should be doing. Speaking without listening makes you lonely and often leads to misunderstanding. However, using active listening skills when communicating will create good relationships. Interactive listening in communication broadens the range of discussion. Do you see how easy it is to be a Power Blogger? Sadly many people don’t follow these simple instructions because they think the process is bothersome.”

Presenting Alternatives for Korean Internet World

Alumnus Myung took over the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) of 'Tatter & Media' after having been the Vice Chief of ‘Yahoo Korea’. Weekly Hanyang asked Myung how he became the COO of 'Tatter & Media'.

“I did many things while working for Yahoo Korea. Among my achievements, I will remember ‘Top Blog Strategy’ the most. This strategy was to create relationships between the company and the individual bloggers horizontally, not vertically. We awarded and compensated the highest contributing bloggers to Yahoo and those blogs became ‘Yahoo-intimate’. Through this strategy, we aimed for high quality contents, high traffic to the site and public loyalty to Yahoo. During that time site traffic increased about two times.”

“I also worked for the Yahoo Korea Division of Foreign Relationships. From the birth of the company, I began creating a relationship with 'Tatter & Media' not as my regular occupation but as a colleague. 'Tatter & Media' let me deal with experimental subjects from the very beginning. ‘Will we be able to create profits through blogs?’ or ‘Will we be able to sell our writings on blogs?’ My role with the company was to carry out experiments to find the answers to these questions. Because of my past work I am finally fixed as a blogger.”

Portal sites are the main gates into the Internet. Internet surfing without a portal site is hardly possible.

"The Internet blog market is distorted. There are thousands of blogs on every Korean portal site. Each blog is the property of each blogger. Korean portal sites never allow bloggers ownership of their writings. If the portal site closed, what would happen to these writings? The U.S. acknowledges the property rights of individual bloggers to their writings."

The power and value of diffusion on the Internet has been even larger than anyone could have expected. What is diffusion and what are Alumnus Myung’s hopes for the future of the Internet?

"Because writings from different points of view are actively being spread throughout the Internet, people are paying closer attention to 'Social Media' sites. The ultimate goal of 'Tatter & Media' this year is to set our foundation as a global media source. Communication systems of high social classes are well founded in every society. Low social class communication systems are often ignored. 'Tatter & Media' will work for the low social class internet community. Another goal of 'Tatter & Media' this year is to produce English-Based blogs and contents. We will work in cooperation with English bloggers to better be able to globalize our blogs. People from the foreign media have been voluntarily providing translating services in order to make their contents more globally accessible. These types of free services are possible because people love their country and want to share their content in all languages. Sharing content in all languages increases the opportunities for globalization of your contents. I believe this mindset is a really important factor which will further help to lead in the development of the Korean Media.”

Silent 20s, Speak, Speak, and speak!

Alumnus Myung expressed sorrow for Korean youngsters who no longer have an eager spirit for challenge.

“When I was graduating from university, the financial situation of my family was severe. I just wanted to get a job. So I recklessly became employed at an insurance company. However, I wasn’t fit to be an insurance salesman at all. I had always wanted to be a reporter, so I finally became employed at a nameless magazine company where I began my career as a small reporter. I started from nothing at the bottom of this company. I did not think that any situation could be worse so it was quite an easy decision to transfer from ‘Yahoo’ to ‘Tatter & Media’ and from a high salary to a low salary.”

More significant than to find a problem is to know how to solve problems. We always need to be prepared with a second-best solution if the best solution is impossible to carry out. Criticism of society is okay, but criticism without specific solutions will do nothing for society.

“I wish lot more college students would communicate through social media sites. They should not feel too burdened or fully responsible for creating and producing something. Simply responding to other people’s writing or just actively sharing their opinions with one another are enough. People who have loud voices are small in number. Only when a person keeps speaking out, they will be noticed and cause others to be interested in societal and world problems.”

“I believe posting on blogs is a kind of social contribution and donation. Blogging is something I do to provide free information to everybody. I just want to communicate, share my opinions and suggest better ways of doing things to the people out there. This is a time of silence for our youngsters. I encourage everyone to experiment with Twitter and create a blog or even respond to one. Our most important mission now is to criticize, empathize and share opinions through social media sites aggressively and actively. You are allowed to fail. Youngsters who are afraid to fail are certain to be silent.”