CHESTER, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Dec 1, 2004--An Internet company specializing in study abroad education has created the world`s first online interactive reality show.
Combining television shows like MTV`s The Real World and CBS`s Amazing Race with the fast growing technology of Internet blogging, StudyAbroad.com has created BlogAbroad.com, a website where three college students studying abroad during the spring semester will keep an interactive journal of their adventures. They will be given different tasks to complete during the semester and will post comments, stories, pictures and videos available 24 hours a day. The audience can then respond with their own posts, allowing them to interact with the star and simultaneously experience the reality of studying abroad. BlogAbroad.com uses the blogging technology of proprietary Internet publisher, MindSay.
''We have created something unique and captivating here,'' says Mark Shay, president and CEO of StudyAbroad.com. ''BlogAbroad.com takes the reality show to the next level. Now, instead of just watching these people`s lives, the audience can interact with them. They can feel like a part of the action. And in addition to being an innovation for the reality genre, it is also a great way to promote cultural understanding and studying abroad. BlogAbroad.com is a perfect blend of entertainment and education, and we are excited to be the first ones to bring it to the mainstream.''
Blogging has been around for a few years, but is just now beginning to gain popularity among general consumers, as evidenced by a recent CNN story that Merriam-Webster lists the word blog as the number one researched word in 2004 and is adding it to their dictionary. ''Blogging is similar to a forum in that a person posts a comment and anyone can respond,'' says Adam Ostrow, Co-founder of MindSay. ''But blogging has ballooned into much more than that as thousands of blogging communities have begun to pop up all over the world, incorporating instant messaging, email and video chats. Websites like www.MindSay.com act as a central location for these communities to come together, forming interactive towns where next-door neighbors can be oceans away from each other.''
StudyAbroad.com is now accepting written auditions at www.BlogAbroad.com.
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