Bloggers, The People of the Year
According to ABC we are, anyway.
Weblogging isn’t new really — I’ve been doing it without realising it since the FCP 2K website went live in 2000 — there are some who’ve been keeping weblogs for their associates to read since before the general public had access to the net. Keeping a log of your work is a scholarly thing to do, and bloggers seem to be following in the steps of the scholars who started the ‘Net in the first place.
Today there are millions of blogs, covering every imaginable interest. According to ABC, a new one is created every seven-and-a-half seconds, though I suspect many fall into disuse nearly as quickly.
Every blog gained only adds to a serious phenomenon which augments, but does not replace, more traditional media (indeed, I am linking to a news story from a traditional media organisation). While many bloggers fancy themselves as the press, and a few deliver, most blogs aggregate the news rather than break it.
But blogs can do what the newspaper cannot: they can create community. Good national news is all about the facts, but a blog is about what a person thinks. It’s in the finest tradition of the back page editorial, only with millions of columnists, each sharing their insight on something, unhampered by column length, publishing standards, or what the senior editor thinks is appropriate.
They create sea of free expression, both good and bad, for users of the Internet to read and debate. They improve the Human content of the ‘Net, and provide a snapshot of the thinking of some of the people who live there. Like email, instant messaging, discussion boards, and mailing lists, blogs are another tool which contributes to an emerging world community connected by information technology with the will to stay connected.
If the Internet is to form a global community, then blogs would have to be the journal of it. While it’s no replacement for real human contact, it’s better than no contact. If we have this chance to gain insight in what others in the world are thinking and doing, maybe we can find ways to put aside the mistrust and misunderstanding that has caused so much woe for our species. If my blog lets just one (alas, English speaking) person gain some insight into my corner of the world, then I will have done my part for the community.
I got into blogging because I was bored with the Internet. But now I do it because people tell me they like reading it. And I like to read what they have to say. I suspect this is why many continue to post updates. My personal goal is to post twice a week, though there are many out there who are way more dedicated than me. Some will post twice a day. One of the blogs I read posts as many as ten times in a day. And that’s just one guy! Hey, as long as you get it out there.
Most of us bloggers do it in our spare time. Some of us do it in our pyjamas. But almost all of us do it because on some level we believe there is some benefit from it. Hopefully our will to communicate might percolate into the meatspace.
That’s why bloggers are the people of the year.
