KevinPittman.com

This year has been the year of the blog. Recently Jamie made the move to Wordpress and runs her site complete with a real web host and a spiffy domain. Other icrew have also started blogging. Trevor has started up again after a long hiatus, while C.A., Avi, and Trotter joined the fun within the past few months.

A recent CNN article about the number one word of the year says Merriam-Webster claims that “blog” was the most popular word searched for on their website this year. With all of the news coverage over politically motivated blogs, “news” blogs, and what I’ve witnessed recently just within my circle of friends, I’m not surprised by this at all.

Another sure indicator that blogs are becoming huge is Microsoft’s new blogging service called MSN Spaces. While there are tons of blogging packages and services already available, Microsoft believes there is room in the game for one more. It will be interesting to see how well this service does in the coming year; if it integrates into MSN Messenger as well as I’ve read it does I can see this becoming quite popular.

An interesting trend I’ve noticed lately is people’s fascination with blogs taking over traditional news outlets. It seems everyday there is a new post on Slashdot or an article in an online newspaper about blogs becoming the new sources of instant, up-to-date news. In my opinion this is really a ways off and pretty much irrational. There is no substitute for a news source that takes the time to check on sources and report facts objectively; that’s the job of news media (although sometimes I feel American news is largely only good for entertainment).

What blogs are really good at is informing people about opinions; opinions about politics, opinions about products, opinions about the latest movies and music, and even opinions about opinions. Now what good is this you may be asking? I think this is extremely valuable in today’s society. I can instantly read foreigner’s opinions about political issues involving the United States; I can read politicians’ thoughts on the state of the country and where we should be headed; I can read ideas, thoughts, opinions, and ramblings to my heart’s content, and more importantly I can respond to them with thoughts of my own.

What better way to hear the voice of the public than from their own words. Those in power: if you care and want to know how the people you represent actually feel, take ten minutes out of your busy day and Google any topic with the word “blog” after it. I guarantee you will find a number of opinions on the issue; opinions from real people, people who care about the issue as much as you.

Blogs receive a lot of crap for being useless in the hands of most people. Time and time again I hear complaints about the proliferation of junk blogs, blogs that are filled with useless crap. These are the rambling blogs of the stereotypical nerd/antisocial/teenager/ with nothing more to write about than the chronicles of their day to day existence. These are the blogs filled with links to random semi-humorous clips/photos/articles. You all know the types I speak of, you despise them don’t you?

Well, being the eternal optimist, I see the good in these blogs too. On a personal, individual level they provide outlets for those nerds/antisocials/teens discussed earlier. It’s along the same lines as writing in a journal, except you can write something and pretend your voice is being heard instead of locking away your thoughts into a book for no one to ever read (what a waste of time). With school shootings and all the crap that causes it on the rise, any medium that facilitates communication and understanding is a positive one. Parents, go read your children’s blogs… you may learn something interesting about the child that sits quietly at your dinner table then runs off with friends.

On a more global, societal scale these types of blog also have their place. It seems to me this is a great way to find out what people are interested in, what people find funny, what people are doing. I’m sure Google can tell you what the latest blog topic crazes are at all times, and that’s valuable information. If anything, writing more may improve writing ability, something I feel younger generations are in dire need of; I know I could be a lot better at it.

In short, I believe blogging is for everyone who’s remotely interested in it. It can be as easy as registering for a Blogger or Xanga account, or as complex as registering a domain, finding a web host, and designing your own custom blog. For those friends of mine who have begun to blog, keep it up. I believe it will become an invaluable tool to keep us all connected as we begin to find jobs and go our separate ways; and whatever you do, make sure you provide a working RSS link for your posts and comments.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 2nd, 2004 at 12:18 am and is filed under Random, Technology, Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.