A preamble for a blog about how blogging is changing communication sounds easy enough to do, but what will I blog about?  I’ve always seen myself as innovative, so I would normally want to use the most up-to-date formats, programs, and technologies- but I have decided to go with a set of criteria already provided to me which identifies a standard for weblogs.  But back to what I will write. 

One of the concerns I have about blogging is the very public nature of the blog.  Anyone can see what you write and in fact this is quite different than a diary or personal webspace where only I or trusted contacts can review the writings.  When I write in the blogosphere, I want to ensure that anything I say in the blogosphere will not come back to haunt me down the road.  The free nature of blogging and its fans would have you believe that it’s fair to write almost anything without repercussion.  But I wouldn’t want to write about a topic or provide a viewpoint that would embarrass me, my loved ones, or endanger my career.  I question with blogs, especially with career-minded individuals, if it should become necessary to employ the tea party etiquette of not speaking of politics, sex, or religion.  In my experience, I believe that bloggers and those who read blogs want to read and write about sex, politics, and religion, or at least other controversial topics and taboos.

          Now this is not to say that I wouldn’t express my true opinions and write what is on my mind, but I am aware of several individuals who have posted things in the heat of the moment only to have those statements taken out of context or worse used to defame the author.  It is important to recall that as a participant in the blogosphere you as the writer are in many ways participating in the media.  This is especially true when your blog is linked to other blogs and websites that are following a specific agenda.  Many dread to find themselves in situations where they need to withdraw what they have been posted.  Because of this reality, the blogger should maintain some sense of responsibility when writing, so I will have to remember that I don’t want to write something I wouldn’t want to affect me professionally.

Blogging can empower someone to say something they may normally not say publicly, but are unbound to write it.  Blogging gives writers a voice, but free speech is something many in the Western world already have.  Not surprisingly, blogging is on the rise is place were free speech is limited.  Unabashed opinions and language can be effective but if so many are being published across the internet, how is content evaluated.  It would appear to me that popularity is one way blogs and writers are evaluated.  Popular blogs, with their pithy phrases and sarcasm, catch a reader scanning the web.  But we should ask if an author scribes a popular statement or viewpoint, is it the way in which the author communicated the message or simply the message or idea itself that is popular. 

We must also ask why is the blog popular.  Does the writer say things that are unconventional, or is it that the author is empowered to write without regard to editors, officials, or a regulated format.  If the latter then perhaps, the writer’s work is read and consumed not because it’s worthy of reading, but because of the very movement of unconventional writing on blogs promotes the concept of reading underground, unregulated, and unedited perspectives.

What will I write?