Holy Moses it’s a blog! While I enjoy writing and expressing my opinions as much as the next Joe or Jen I can honestly say that I am terrified. I have no idea whether it’s the topics, or the fact that I’m receiving a total grade percentage equal to half of my proverbial mass communication pie for this assignment, but something about it just makes me shudder. When it all comes down to it in the end, I believe the only thing that’s keeping me from sleeping at night is the idea that any old Derek or Deborah can read what I have to say. This is only slightly uncomforting to a young student such as myself who only couple years ago wouldn’t even venture over to his friends houses because of the fact that when I rang that doorbell and someone other than my friend answered I might have just broke down in tears.
On the whole however I can see blogging as a great tool for furthering everyone’s knowledge, not just my own. This is where the public sphere becomes not only handy, but entirely unique from any other style of writing. The idea that you don’t have to be Chuck Klosterman to write a segment on the affects Sim City has on your life (Klosterman) in my mind makes blogging the most powerful medium currently in existence. Any old Cory or Candice can write a piece about the effects of renaissance oil paintings on the feminism movement (Berger) and post it online for the entire world to see. What I see academic blogging as is a technology that in the future has the capabilities of overrunning the print business, making it the vinyl to our brand new 8-track. Until then however blogging has become a way of getting noticed by big name corporations without enduring the painful meetings with office executives. A man like Perez Hilton (although I hate to mention this fact) has gotten world recognition based solely upon his pop culture blog. Making it possible for anyone to express their opinion online with aspirations that somebody other than their family would read it and take note. Which makes it possible for regular Joe’s to become the next modern day Shakespeare’s. This inspires hope in the mass amount of writers out there who may not have the cash to splurge on getting their book published.
In short blogs are a medium for all writers, good or bad, rich or poor to have their works out there for every Joe, Jen, Derek, Deborah, Cory, Candice, or anyone else for that matter to read, and that I can only imagine is a good thing.
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 2008.
Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. New York: Scribner, 2004.
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