?
Having a blog can really please the ego of some people. It’s your 15 minutes of fame – with the exception that you have as many chances as you want. Free public presentation of yourself and your opinions is something quite new and exciting. As we learned in class, the only limit to the amount of information we’re willing to share is the reader’s attention span. But the purpose of this post isn’t to elaborate on how much more open the blogosphere is than the traditional media.
I’m trying to express the feeling I get when I think about blogs; the question of their subjective necessity. Should blogs be seen as a revolutionary change in global communication, or as an indiscriminate forum for often flawed, misinformed, and self-indulgent opinion? Does anonymity protect or rather harm fair judgment? Is it worthwhile to wade through the muddy waters of unqualified and mock-outraged web pages to derive information pertaining to quality debate and discussion?
Maybe I just haven’t been to the right sites, but nevertheless…It could just be me, but I feel no need to publish information on such a medium as the blogosphere. This is in no way meant to be snobbish, and I’m not saying I’d have to degrade myself to be a blogger. Bottom line, I find it fascinating and very positive that the opportunity of global expression has been extended to virtually anyone with an internet connection. What I did mean to say by this post is that my opinions and thoughts are mine alone, and sharing them via this means makes me feel uncomfortable. Not that I’d have any ground-breaking ideas anyway :)
P.S. This post does not in any way aim at disclaiming or criticizing the Ben Franklin blogging project, or at insulting or criticizing the individual blogs part of this project. Just think of it as one person’s neutral stance.

4 Comments:
The easy answer is that blogs are not all good nor all bad, all useful nor all useless and sel-indulgent.
Newspapers are not all good nor all bad, either.
To me, the real question is which medium is best for which purpose?
Traditional mass media has its advantages and its drawbacks. So does the blogosphere.
Very interesting post and blog, Robert. You did something what I wanted to do :) Scarcely can I find blogs which are interesting and contain worthy information.
Simultaneously, I do not think that this way of spreading information and sharing ideas is always the best one which could be chosen. Greetings and thanks for this blog, in deed! ;)
I think the blog is a forum for ones own opinion. In some cases it is true that those opinions are ill informed and not worth the space they are printed on. But others have important discussions, or well informed opinions. I would keep looking, because there probably is something out there for you.
I believe that to some extent you are right, however isn't it fascinating that you can share your opinion with people all around the world, and find people who agree with you. So in that sense blogging is just helping globalization and making the world come togheter. The question is will they come togheter to do good, or to engage in criminal activities, so should we limit and legislate blogs or leave them with a lot of freedom on their hands?
Zverejnenie komentára
<< Home