A Blog About Blogging?

So, Ted gave us this article to read entitled "What is a Blog?" written by Tim Jarret. To be honest, I didn't really gain anything from this article...and it's probably because it was written in 2003. That's 5 whole years ago. The blogging scene has definitely evolved since then, and many other huge corporations have played their parts in it. From MySpace's and Facebook's establishments in 2004 to YouTube's start up in 2005, people have found even more ways to give themselves voices on the web. Communication between users has definitely enhanced, and so Jarret's article didn't quite stand out to me.

But nonetheless, he did have some important things to say, and this article is probably capable of convincing people to blog, as well.

In his article, Jarret defines blogs as "personally published documents on the web" that are stored in one place in cronological order and are updated regularly for people to read and respond to. He goes on to explain that blogging is very different from general web pages in that blogs are most likely updated more frequently and have a more personal feel to them. People who blog pay more attention to the text they post rather than the design of the webpage and often write more informally (as if speaking to their audience) than if they were producing text for a professional website.

The author touches on a theme that arises even today: empowerment. This has probably been the inspiration for many bloggers around the world -- the fact that they are able to express themselves in a very public way. Blogging has taken the first ammendment and expanded it worldwide, which to me, is definitely empowering.

Blogging is a lot like journaling, except it is public. Similarly to journals, blogs are a collection of multiple entries stored in the order they were written/posted.  This is significant because it allows the author as well as his/her readers to read what has been posted in the past and observe how the author has stayed the same or grown over time, and it is usually the latter.

As I mentioned before, sites like MySpace and Facebook play a relative role to blogging.  People who own separate blog pages often link their profiles to their blogs, allowing them to create a network of people out of their blog audiences.  Comments left by other users can generate discussions about a blog entry.  Sometimes, the topic will stray far off from the original subject and users will begin to communicate with each other on a personal level and/or a regular basis.

For people who don't know much about blogging, there is much to be taken away from reading Jarrett's article.  But for a large portion of youth in our world, participation in blogging and all things related to it has almost become second nature.

So, for the most part, I agree with the author.  Blogging is useful.  It is powerful.  It can teach us all something.

But my question for Timmy is: do you have a blog?  Because...I'd like to read it sometime.