Don't Fear the Blog
Why do people fear blogs?A complex question with a complex answer no doubt. I'll try to bring it down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand. Like most fears the fear of blogs is based on ignorance or maybe there's just an aspect of blogging that folks don't understand. Here are some common areas of misunderstanding.
Technological ~ Some people fear blogs cause they just don't "get" computers. These people are the kind of people that have an e-mail account that they never use, maybe set up by a son or daughter or niece or nephew. These people don't just fear blogs these people fear technology in general. These people are pretty much already relegated to the fringes of our ever technologically dependent society. Their all encompassing fear of that which is new and beige will inevitably lead to an untimely death and an early grave. You will often hear these people mutter ~
"I don't need a computer, the world existed for thousands of years without the aid of computers and this silly electronet thingamajig and I don't need it and flibbity floo."
These people are often afraid of anything which might challenge their puny intellect.
Pedagogical ~ Some people fear blogs cause they don't fit into the narrow, trivial and often tiresome view of the world that these people learned from books. Books are great. I am all for them. I might write one some day. But the real world exists outside of the world of academia and blogs are one of those things that don't adhere to some strict formula for the way things are according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Here's a concept that blows these peoples minds ~
"A blog is a personal journal that is posted on the web for everyone to see."
Holy shit, short circuit, "I don't get it, how can something be both personal and public, isn't that like someone reading your diary."
Why yes you pedantic fool and no at the same time. Blogs don't have to be public but they are always posted in web space as the name implies. And yes, some people write about intensely personal things but they can choose from many levels of anonymity. It is exactly this exchange of private and personal ideas that make blogs so revolutionary and dare I say.. magical. Blogs are a revolutionary way for us to relate to one another and they have unlocked an exchange of ideas that is both public and private and can be published in real time. Dig?
The Media ~ In our media saturated society many opinions that people form are based solely and unbeknownst to them on something that they saw on TV or that they read in the paper. The media is an important tool to maintain an informed populace in a Democratic society, I'll concede that. Its just too bad that the mainstream media is hung up on their gravy train that is funded by big oil, pharmaceutical companies, and the interlocking directorate of the military industrial complex. As a result they are driven by these evil entities to maintain a level of fear and suspicion among a bewildered proletariat that is otherwise deprived of information save for the few dominant media conglomerates. Scared people are easy to rule or at least easily parted from their dollars. Blogs are quickly being recognized as a viable source of alternative media. This threatens both the media's monopoly of information and to some degree, in the long term, its economic infrastructure. So what do we do in America when something threatens the status qou,.. we demonize it. This comes from our puritanical heritage. Some blantant examples are alcohol, women's rights, civil rights, weed, public decency and on and on ad infinum. Here is an example I saw just today albeit not from an American based media outlet.
That farticle is tricky cause they don't bash blogging outright or really say anything derogatory. What they fail to mention obviously on purpose is the name of the blog that they are talking about. They also chose a nice op-ed piece in which to highlight blogging that makes blogs seem sort of sickly and innocuous in their subject matter. As if to say ~ "Ah, look at what the cute little blogger has chosen to highlight, see people this isn't alternative media at all, this is just a hobby."
And would it have killed them to provide a link. And the BBC is the least of our worries.
Jealousy ~ One of the most powerful human emotions right next to love and horny, jealousy can really tear us apart. Some people say "bloggers are so narcissistic"...or "bloggers are just wallowing in shameless self promotion"...or "I hate bloggers." These people are green with envy. They wish they had the guts and the vocabulary that it takes to write on regular basis. They wish they were having the life experiences that it takes to make an interesting blog. These are the same people that when asked by their parents "Well, if little Jimmy jumped off a bridge would you jump off a bridge?" they answered "No." These people are the kind of quitters that never even start anything cause they are afraid to be labeled a quitter. These people need to grab ahold of themselves and say "You are good enough and you are smart enough and doggonnit, people like you."
Listen you don't have to write a blog to enjoy the blog sphere alls I'm sayin is "don't be hatin'."
I hope I have cleared up some of the misunderstandings about blogs and bloggers and the people that be hatin' on 'em.
Alls I know is that people need beverages cause beverages bring harmony.
paz
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