The Pitfalls of Blogging

Blogs.

They have become a hugely popular internet pastime. Blogs have given us all a place to be heard, a place to tell the world how we feel about things. They are places you can use to state your very own personal opinion on anything and everything. Some are even using a blog as their personal diary, a most probably dangerous experiment in excessive exposure.

A whole lot of these folks don't seem to realize, or care, that personal opinions -- if they differ from yours or mine -- are about as universally accepted as personal advice... which is hardly ever. That being said, it would seem that a decent blog is going to need a bit more than the often artistic or intellectual mouthery about what one thinks how the world is, or should be.

Those blogs we like to visit and read (admit it) are merely expressing what we already believe in, perhaps providing a new (but supportive) point a view, or some new evidence that we are -- and have been all along -- totally correct.

I'm not referring to the blogs, books, articles, or comments by professional writers. Folks like that are trained and paid to entertain us, or change our minds, or to push one button or another. As long as you realize those people always seem to have a pet axe to grind, you'll be fine. Commenting on a blog posted by a professional writer is often amusing, since their egos demand that they alone introduce all the good stuff. But fair warning, they can be quite caustic in their arrogance.

This is in reference to all these internet blogs by us ordinary folk.

I have no gripes whatever about the blogs what are in reality just a collection of opinions and attitudes of the writer. That may just be all they needed... an otherwise unattainable outlet for expression. If that's what floats their boat, fine and dandy. I've visited many of those, some even more than once.

There are plenty of blogs out there where the writer is expressing his or her own opinions and attitudes and is prepared to debate those positions against all comers. Well and good, but it doesn't take long for a blog like that to become nothing more than a repetitious mantra of personal opinion supported only by the comments of the like-minded.

From what I have seen while blogging is that facts, evidence, or proof are not going to change very many minds -- probably none -- since what people consider as fact, evidence or proof always amusingly supports their own particular point of view... your facts aren't really facts and don't count, you ignorant dunce.

Accordingly, I think I'll try to just post subjects that are of interest to me and perhaps a few comments on the subject by folks currently commenting on same, a few threads that a reader can follow... or not.

Sounds good. Hope I can really pull it off.