Blogs have a seemingly infinite number of uses in society. For every activity you could possibly imagine, there is probably a blog about it. Blogs cover all spectrum of any activity too. There are many "how to..." blogs as well as blogs for experts. Blogs provide a forum for people to be heard. We become the journalist. All it takes is a computer with internet.
There are blogs that people write for themselves, almost a day to day journal. They can be a great way for people to vent about the problems that life presents. Communities quickly form, where people support one another. Content perhaps isn't the most important aspect; connecting is.
On the other side, blogs could be used to make a living. You can add a function that adds advertisements to your page, where you earn money per click. Content now becomes the most important thing on your blog, as you're constantly trying to draw people in, as well as keep them coming back. You have to find a niche and stick to it.
It's absurd to try to define what blogs are and how they are used in society in one post, because they encompass so much. They have transcended web logs, and have become almost a pulse of the world. This is evident with sites like twitter that are being dubbed mini-blogs. These mini-blogs provide quick, distilled information, and avoid the occasional long winded post found on 'actual' blogs. Twitter shows us what can become when blogs have total connectivity. But I can't help but feel like we're losing something with mini-blogs. Where is the forum for discussion when people are posting that they just had Top Ramen for lunch? Just a thought.
In short, blogs are various ideas and activities that our ever advancing society embodies. They really are the pulse of the world.
I hope this wasn't as confusing to read as it was to write!
I really like this statement about personal blogs, Joel. "Content perhaps isn't the most important aspect; connecting is."
ReplyDeleteWhile so many people are bemoaning the loss of connection that technology seems to cause, it is also allowing different and wider, more diverse communities to form. I read an article, I don't recall where now, that spoke about how we all have a different circle of friends at different stages of our lives. We have our school friends, our college or work friends, those who knew us before we were married, those who have more in common with us once we have kids, etc. What applications such as Facebook are allowing us to do, this writer said, is hang onto those friends and keep in touch, though moves and marriage and kids.