June 30, 2017
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
What is a blog? While unofficial, it appears that the first blog dates back to 1994. Weblogs, coined in 1997, became plain old blogs in 1999. Then, as their popularity rose, Merriam-Webster presented it as the word of the year in 2004. Back then, the word was defined as, “Online journal where the writer presents a record of activities, thoughts, or beliefs.”
Blogs continue to be a space for contemplation, ideas, crafts, words or sharing your favorite pieces of culture. They have greatly expanded due to the converging rise of Do-It-Yourself projects. Merriam-Webster now defines blog as “a website that contains online personal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks, videos, and photographs provided by the writer.” In a second definition, Merriam-Webster claims that a blog can also be associated with an online publication that “relates to a particular topic and consists of articles and personal commentary by one or more authors.” An important aspect of both definitions is that they rely on the term “personal”. While writers always share something personal, there is movement away from the idea of a professional writer, into more of an amateur field.
There are many reasons for the desire to share something personal. However, personal implies that the entire conversation is personal. In other words, it is a conversation typically reserved for an audience among family and friends. Precisely who is included in our personal circle? Our thoughts are certainly personal, and yet, the rise in blogging suggests that humans have a need to more widely distribute their own thoughts. Does a blog offer effective contemplation, conversation? Does it provide a necessary and useful format for society? Or should blogs be relegated to personal interest?
Blogs reflect, I believe, the way in which our societal structure has changed over the past thirty to fifty years. Neighborhoods no longer define community. Instead, we create community through schools, interest groups, activities, churches and family structures. As society alters the style of our community, so does our style of communication. In part, these arose simultaneously. For example, we have access to transportation and communication devices with a fair amount of ease. Our ability to text, call, email, or facetime enables us to travel great distances without leaving our homes. It also allows us the freedom to make plans and change them up to the moment. Transportation grants the freedom to make plans in any number of locations. We can visit friends all over the world with relative ease. And while it is not impossible to maintain strong connections through words alone, visiting certainly helps.
Having this great power of movement, however, also changes the dynamics of our close relationships. While many studies show a correlation between good health and positive relationships, society continues to rely on social media as one form of relationship. I wonder, therefore, how healthy that relationship is for the human psyche and does it fit the need that we need it to fill?
One potentially problematic aspect of blogs is that the writer can claim anything. For the most part, there is no editor or fact-checker. Whether looking up information about cooking, crafting, politics or historical fact, it is likely that you will stumble upon nearly every side of a coin, regardless of fact. Also, it may be difficult to find the information that you need. Searching for a particular issue, may actually lead you astray. In other words, the reader must do their own homework since searchability and reliability remain unresolved issues of blogs.
Having said that, I believe that blogs provide a space in which we can enhance our levels of contemplation. For example, writing offers many potential benefits. A society which writes must be thinking about a wide variety of issues, entertainments and interests. I like the idea that we can form a web of communication with others whom we do not know, have never met and are unlikely to meet. It has the potential to bring us together in contemplation and discussion, not necessarily in agreement. It seems important to support a society of writers and thinkers. To my mind, this is the best that a blog community can offer: serious contemplation of any subject, coupled by thoughtful commentary.
However, the most glaring drawback of blog community is the lack of personal interaction. Without the handshake, hug, facial expression or physical presence, some people feel it is acceptable to write something that would be deemed inappropriate in a social setting. It is as if we enable an internal editor when speaking publicly, but dissociate ourselves from this very same editing device when speaking electronically. This divide seriously puzzles and frightens me.
I hope that as the blogging community grows, our awareness of socially appropriate speech will re-engage, that we will be reminded of the power of speech, of courtesy and grace. I enjoy presenting my thoughts in dialogue and I appreciate the responses that articulate both thoughtful approval and dissent. While I still much prefer human interaction and direct conversation, I can see the potential service that blogs may provide.
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28 thoughts on “A Blog Is A Blog”
I completely agree that blogs decreases social interaction but we cannot ignore the fact that blogs have been useful for shaping up careers of students and professionals both. Just to give an example, blogs have been beneficial for gaining <a href="https://www.trycatchclasses.com/courses/web-designing-training-course-in-mumbai/">Web Designing Training</a> skills or to solve doubts in programming. It has also been useful in health related issues where people can just read about myriad solutions.
I fully agree that blogs reduce social interaction, but we can not ignore the fact that blogs have been used to shape the career of students and professionals. To give just one example, blogs are beneficial to acquire skills or to resolve the doubts in programming. It has also been used in health-related issues where people can read only about innumerable solutions.
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Nice post
I fully agree that blogs reduce social interaction, but we can not ignore the fact that blogs have been used to shape the career of students and professionals.
This is an excellent post
great job!
Thanks for sharing this great stuff…
I totaly agree with one of the main idea in this post: the lack of personal interaction in blogs. I managed several blogs in the past, when they are the main "foro" in Internet… I loved these times 🙂
Great post, BTW, thanks!
I fully agree that blogs reduce social interaction, but we can not ignore the fact that blogs have been used to shape the career of students and professionals. To give just one example, blogs are beneficial to acquire skills or to resolve the doubts in programming. It has also been used in health-related issues where people can read only about innumerable solutions.
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I completely agree that blogs decreases social interaction but we cannot ignore the fact that blogs have been useful for shaping up careers of students and professionals both
Hi. Thanks for the great article. It has some controversial ideas but it encourages discussion.
>>One potentially problematic aspect of blogs is that the writer can claim anything…
Can’t agree on this one. There are often no editors but readers themselves can assess the information and now it’s our common work as content readers. That’s what we do at https://onlinewritersrating.com/ where we have few steps of proofreading for every article.
Thanks for the great article. Agree that blogs decreases social interaction !
I completely agree that blogs reduce social interaction, but we cannot ignore the fact that blogs have been used to promote individuals voice to the global communities.
I have found the site very informative! I only recently came upon it, and wish I’d seen it sooner. It does a great job of pulling different topics/disciplines/perspectives — something unique and valuable here. Thanks — hope you keep it up!
Great post. I believe as technology grows intertwined with our daily lives, that social interaction will continue to shrink. We have to wrk harder at having more meaningful relationships. Glad I came across this.
I believe that blogs provide an oportunityfor an individual to express their unique voice and opinion. They also provide a level of anonymity which can be comforting for people that would hesitate to express their veiws face to face. However, yes, I agree that they reduce social interaction.
Great post. I believe as technology grows intertwined with our daily lives, that social interaction will continue to shrink. Thank you
You are right, the major problem with blogging in the last few years is "everyone is an expert" An average Joe would simply do a search on google, and hit the first click bait title, and read a blog piece that has no research done by authority figures, or simply it has a research, but he change it do his liking.
Yes, I beileve blogs should be used for casual conversation rather than scientific/factual discussion.
Good article on reminding us that we are lacking social touch. We should try and socialize more.
The false social contact we have on the Internet is not enough to satisfy our needs, we need to really socialize, meet, talk and hang out with real people and not mere avatars of people on the internet…
The false social contact we have through the internet will never replace the "real" human contact we have when we socialize with other real people, not with mere avatars online.
Insightful. I believe that social interaction through blogs and forums helps us to cultivate real connections with strangers. It also assists in developing relationships with your fan base.
They also provide a level of anonymity which can be comforting for people that would hesitate to express their veiws face to face. However, yes, I agree that they reduce social interaction.
The false social contact we have on the Internet is not enough to satisfy our needs, we need to really socialize, meet, talk and hang out with real people and not mere avatars of people on the internet…
Quote: "One potentially problematic aspect of blogs is that the writer can claim anything. For the most part, there is no editor or fact-checker. Whether looking up information about cooking, crafting, politics or historical fact, it is likely that you will stumble upon nearly every side of a coin, regardless of fact."
This is super true! However, it is the responsibility of the reader to understand this is the case. We can’t remove responsibility of the visitor to the blog to conceptualize what they are reading and decide if what they think is true or untrue should be further researched.
"One potentially problematic aspect of blogs is that the writer can claim anything. For the most part, there is no editor or fact-checker."
Indeed this is true, however, the same is true in the aforementioned closer relationships. The only difference is that the information is disseminated to a wider audience. What’s the answer to that? You’re soaking in it! It’s the Internet itself. This very comment section allows others to debate and offer corrections to facts. You run into serious problems when you designate some entity to be an all-knowing fact checker. With openness and accessibility to everyone, ideas can be discussed. Bad ones can be discarded and good ones can be shared. Bad information can be separated from good and instead of merely censoring someone for being what someone might perceive as factually incorrect, there is an opportunity to convince them of what the facts really are.
I totaly agree with one of the main idea in this post: the lack of personal interaction in blogs. I managed several blogs in the past, when they are the main "foro" in Internet… I loved these times 🙂
Great post, BTW, thanks!
Hello Alissa Simon,
I just finished reading your blog post about the nature and evolution of blogs, and I must say, it was quite an enlightening read. Your exploration of the history of blogging and its transformation from personal online journals to platforms for sharing a wide array of content was fascinating. I particularly appreciated your point about the personal nature of blogs and how they have moved from the realm of professional writers to a more amateur field.
Your discussion about the changing dynamics of our relationships and communities in the digital age really resonated with me. It’s true that our communities are no longer defined by our neighborhoods but by our shared interests and activities, and blogs play a significant role in this shift. However, I agree with your concerns about the reliability of information shared on blogs and the potential for misinformation. It’s a reminder that as readers, we must always be critical and do our own fact-checking.
I also share your hope for the blogging community to maintain a level of social appropriateness and courtesy in their interactions. The anonymity of the internet should not be an excuse for rudeness or disrespect. I believe that blogs can indeed serve as platforms for thoughtful discussion and contemplation, as long as we remember to treat each other with respect and kindness. Thank you for sharing your insights!