In defence of blogging
This is for those who are not converted. To those who are, you know these reasons, and more.
I've had a few debates lately with friends who are not convinced of the art and utility of the blog. I agree that reading large amounts of text on a desktop computer with a glary screen is substandard, but on a nimble laptop, pda, pocket PC or other notepad device, I think it is the way of the future of words. And in manageable bites, anything is possible. Reasons:
- the prevention of the needless slaughter of trees (yay!)
- it's easy access
- it's cheap (well, once you have the computer set up)
- it's as disposable as "delete", but still archivable
- it's sharable at the push of a button
- it's super graphic or minimalist with ease
- it's non publisher mediated, closest thing to anarchy I've seen in a while
- it doesn't take up a lot of space
- it doesn't leave piles around your place
- it's faster if you know how to type
- you can create them or read them from whatever turret or cave you hapeen to be in
- it's the only way some people can get their information out (such as http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ or http://www.meetvernon.blogspot.com/)
- Some people even think blogging is a cause worth fighting for like http://stop.censoring.us/)
We can take a lot for granted.
What do you think?
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section. I will read them.
posted by isabella mari at 1:32 p.m. 
2 Comments:
Some thoughts on blogs:
I think blogs are a positive thing, if for no other reason as they are a good way of communicating with a large audience (or a small one) at once. I have friends and relatives all over the country and I cannot find the time to call/email/write to each individual. Blogging is a nice way to “spread the word,” so to speak. And vice versa. I can check my friend’s blogs and see what’s been happening in their lives even if we haven’t spoken for a while.
I have never been much of a journal writer, but I find that I can generally get something up on my blog in a somewhat timely manner at least once a week. AND it is a way for me, with my busy schedule and often limited time, to feel as though I am being somewhat creative. And it’s just a good outlet for some. My father has been fighting cancer for almost three years and my mom has FINALLY started a blog. She just writes about her day and the weather and her cats. Nothing TOO exciting, but she really enjoys posting and that’s what counts. And she has a loyal readership of supportive friends and family. That’s the beauty of the blog- someone can do whatever they want on their blog. It’s their own little world.
However, on the flipside, I actually had a friend who had someone email them to tell them to change their blog cause it was boring. This seemed rude and silly to me, but my friend was really concerned that his blog was no good. Let’s face it, blogs are written and directed to an audience. If you don’t want someone else to read it, why post it? Private thoughts are for diaries. Very few of us express our deepest darkest secrets on our blogs. We post photos, tell stories, bitch about our day, advertise for shows, talk about our opinions, and we all hope someone will comment about it. We hope they will be read by someone else.
So is it a problem if one’s blog is a turn-off to potential readers? Whether or not this is an issue depends on WHY you blog. I blog to try to entertain. To tell a funny story, throw a goofy picture in there, an interesting tidbit or two, and occasionally drop something more serious. I think one CAN load their blogs down with so much minutia as to glaze the eyeballs of a reader. I have scrolled through many blogs and rarely stop long enough to comment or read more than a few paragraphs. But does that mean the person should change their blog to suit MY tastes? Again, WHY are you blogging? To express yourself? Then NO, don’t change. To gather a loyal audience of readers? Well, MAYBE you should think about what you post. (I would like to say that often, I may not read a blog not because it’s intrinsically boring, but just that I don’t know the authors and don’t feel compelled to linger too long on a blog where someone is talking in great detail about something I know nothing about, ie, THEM.)
I have also come to the sad realization that most people think their own blog is cooler than other folks do. I think MY blog is AWESOME, and I think my posts about African politics and theology books I read are cool, but I seriously doubt many of my readers make it all the way through those posts. However, I have put some badly drawn cartoon pictures of my cat doing the Macarena on my blog, and BOY do folks eat those up. Easily the most popular posts I have ever done. I think the readership for long, intense blogs is much more limited than for entries that are quick and easy. And unless you are VERY active in commenting and posting about hot topics, your blog’s readership will likely be small. I’ve had 6000+ hits. But 4000 of those are probably my own mother.
But that’s OK. A blog is there to be whatever the blogger wants it to be, and that's its intrinsic value. So I come down firmly on the pro-blogging side of the argument. Sorry, this ended up being REALLY long and slightly rambling!
Thanks for your comment baldman76. Rambling is a ok.
You make some good points, and I took a quick peek at your blog, and found that your cat IS pretty funny! I can see why you've had that response. Well, so far the pro blogging votes seem to have it, but seeing as we are both bloggers I have to admit we are somewhat biased... :)
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