For a second, I thought you might lapse into Descartes. I blog in a feeble attempt to create community around ideas, but in a way that's not detached and hierarchical. In 2004/5, I would rarely blog about anything personal & now I'm not so rigid about that. I think it's important to foster a real connection by linking people to the everyday. Ambient awareness, as some might say.

I like the immediacy of blogging about things going on, as well as how these thoughts are archived.

I love this quote from Sullivan:
"Rudeness, in any case, isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a blogger. Being ignored is. Perhaps the nastiest thing one can do to a fellow blogger is to rip him apart and fail to provide a link."

I think what I like about the medium is that the ideas need not be fully-baked. The interactions can help to develop ideas, but I think this is still evolving, as I think many post blogs as finished pieces. I really like how it works against perfectionism in writing, which is often inertia's more presentable sibling.

It is funny how blogging has the same attributes that drove you away from journalism. However, as you are aware, it is so different. It is completely on your own terms. You are not writing to appease anyone but yourself, and it's a great, safe way to put your thoughts out there. I do not blog (regularly), and I do not feel like I am missing out on it. I do not quite feel that I want to put myself out on the internet like that. Whether it's just a lack of care or desire, I have yet to make that jump. I can see though how it's like a public journal/scrapbook of yourself and thoughts. It is rather appealing.

Blogging is very different from journalism. Blogger is not subject to the parameters that journalist must follow when writing a piece.[although there is a certain format that is optimal there is no 'standard' form] Blogging i is another animal blogging is a practically free-form. Blogging is not subject to the rigorous peer review involved in publishing ideas in a journal. I can understand how someone in academia or simply someone who is passionate about a subject would want to throw their ideas out there and allow them to interact with the ideas of others who might follow the blog. This can allow bloggers to be relevant. I personally do not blog, my friends do and they created a blog for me. I tried it and it did not spark my interest. The few posts that I posted were about environmental law and other issues. My friends were quite bored. I just do not have the desire to put my ideas or life out there. I like old fashioned face-face discussions or debates .. I rather gossip via the phone or a personal conversation. I do read blogs on certain subjects and I might join in and and add my five cents but for the most part I do not need that nor do I need to post my ideas out there. I do not have a desire to archive my life online.

I'm not a blogger...but I easily could be.

I see the draw to it, and almost feel compelled to create my own blog every now and then I just keep myself so busy I never feel I have the time to start blogging.

Now taking my reasoning for not blogging I've started to think about what truly makes a blog. Is it a blog if you only post once and never touch it again?! I think this is an essential to blogging that is overlooked.

If someone asked me to start a blog this week I would be timid because of the hidden pressure I would put on myself to keep up with it. Even if I only post once randomly every year, It's a commitment to write something more than once.

I think people blog for a wide variety of reasons and each are compelling and engaging to that individual, but the the blog itself becomes something you own no matter how meaningless or academic it is.

I don't like to give up on things I own and put my time into.

I’m going to start with this quote:
“If blogging is exactly the kind of impulsive, unreflective, episodic writing that drove me from my journalism program, why do I make myself blog? ... I think there is something deeper.”
I completely agree with all aspects of these two sentences. There are thousands of blogs that would fall under the categories of impulsive and unreflective, and these blogs are generally not held by people with advanced degrees or high levels of academic scholarship. The blogs that follow random thought processes are, to me, of absolutely no value whatsoever. On the other hand, blogs such as ThickCulture and those linked its the side add intellectuality to the world through having a strict purpose. These types of blogs are generally written by people with PhD’s and are educational in a way that could not be taught as well in another setting such as a classroom. There are ways the internet can facilitate learning on a whole new scale and it is important to take advantage of these opportunities. When Professor Marichal said he thinks there is “something deeper” to his blogs, he is absolutely right. He has the knowledge and experience necessary to create a reputable and honorable blog. However, not all blogs fall under this category and the reason I do not blog is basically because I don’t think I am smart or interesting enough to make meaningful contributions. Sharing every other idea that goes through my head would be a grave mistake because my ideas and perspectives are constantly evolving. Most of the time things may seem very important or one-sided at one moment, but a closer examination and the passing of time leads to better objectivity and more intelligent opinions. I have no doubt that I will come to different conclusions about countless aspects of life in the future and I would prefer to not have my more awkward learning stages forever able to be googled.

Herman Melville once wrote, “We cannot live for ourselves alone.” Blogging is a prime example of this, with the masses being driven to their computers to constantly give their input. This is not to say this is necessarily a bad thing – are you really hurting anybody by exercising your first amendment right of freedom of speech? Blogging certainly has the potential of monetary gains. In March of 2008 the New York Times featured an article on internet copy editor Christian Lander and his blog, “Stuff White People Like.” Supposedly meant to feature cultural endeavors aimed at a targeted audience, the media ate the story up with the racist vs. satirist argument. Random House eventually purchased book rights from Lander at a price of $300,000. While there are respectable bloggers out there who have the academic background to intelligently string ideas together and make a cohesive argument (or 300 grand), I believe the majority of the posts are the ranting-and-raving crowds who can’t find other outlets. Blogging is not about information being free but for everyone to assert themselves as journalists. I agree with Jennifer when she says that she has no desire to archive herself online. What happened to writing to your newspaper’s editors or engaging in town hall debates? Society has unfortunately reached the point of needing continuous praise and validation, resorting to the endless cyberspace audience to achieve it.

I don't blog myself and have never felt the urge to do it either, I just don't have the will to continuously update and write about myself, or anything else. However, I do see the value of having people, with knowledge of the subject they are blogging about, introducing new ideas and theories for others to pursue.

On that note, I don't see the value in people blogging about their own life and pouring out personal information. This is just not very relevant in my opinion, unless you are a psych major perhaps.

So in my opinion, yes, bloggers can be relevant, but the amount of bloggers that actually are, are few.

Like I said in class on Friday, I feel that the attraction to blogging many feel is akin to that of being self employed. The restrictions and deadlines you may normally face being employed by a newspaper or magazine, are removed and only exist if you choose to place them on yourself.
For some though, the trade-off between the freedom of uncensored blogging and being able to making an adequate living are not so clearly defined. Take for example Matthew Yglesias, a recent transferee from TheAtlantic.com to the ThinkProgress.com. ThinkProgress.com is a site heavily sponsored by Center for American Progress, a (liberal) political policy research group. This sponsorship has been a source of repeated conflicts of interest to posts made on Matthew's blog. (see: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/12/a_special_note_re_third_way.php, comment by Andrew: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/12/special-note-cr.html, and more backlash here: http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/12/a_special_note_re_hummus.php)

For Bloggers, the decision to write for a Magazine's website that may potentially limit their freedom of discussion is one that could have a substantial impact on their ability to blog as a primary source of income.

Bloggers have the potential to be relevant but there are a very select few that are. Used effectively, blogs are portals used to get thoughtful and intellectual thoughts across through a network connceted to millions. One can attain credible information through an academic journal but the web is much more accesible. People have great thoughts to offer to the world and it is possible to get these ideas across through networks of blogs.
I do not blog because I don't feel that I have these incredible ideas about relevant topics (yet), but if I had very strong opinions about a topic I would have the passion and drive to want to deliver my thoughts to anyone willing to read my ideas. While doing research on topics in the past I have found relevant and very interesting blog postings that assisted me in furhter developing my thoughts so I do believe that there is a good side to blogging because there are a a great amount of diverse thoughts out there and there is room for so much more.

I do not blog personally but I admire those people who do it frequently. Bloggers can be relevant for the simple fact that they are different from regular print media which is one of the reasons why newspapers and magazines are doing so poorly of late because readers want someone who is personable and relatable. Also bloggers are not inhibited by some of the forces that stop newspapers, magazines, and nightly news from reporting fully into some issues that the public would want to hear about. Bloggers write about what they think and feel and often times mention other sources in which they heard something interesting and wanted to blog about it.
Blogging is also a forum, where ideas can be shared, critiqued, tweaked. Blogging puts ideas into the public where they can be shared and discussed. There are some people who will offer up criticisms for the blogger and helpful suggestions on how they make there ideas even stronger and how to reach a bigger audience. After feedback from their readers bloggers can tweak their ideas and make it more cohesive and help integrate new options in the original layout. That's one of the things about blogging it can be changed quickly and necessary for no other reason then it sound better this way and makes more sense.

I don’t blog. Why not? Unlike many bloggers, I’m not into blogging about me. Blogging for others requires exposure: “you can’t use what you can’t find.” The need to publicize as well as publish is one reason why I don't blog. Instead I contribute occasional technical/topical pieces to a few web communities. Why write online? Most people can produce passable prose with enough time and effort. Thinking on your feet is an exhilarating challenge. In Wikis, revisions are only documented behind the scenes. What I post under my screen name is attributable to me. Most readers don’t know you – you're judged by your writing. For good or ill, I stake my community reputation and credibility on what I write. This ups the ante. But mostly, I write because I hope to edify. The premise is simple: unrecorded knowledge is lost. Publishers used to decide what knowledge would be preserved and circulated. The web makes each of us a publisher.

I like researching things. The web is a vast (and often uncharted) expanse of data. [Browsers draw on this idea, e.g. “Navigator” and “Explorer.”] Each of us has a bewildering unknown of data at our fingertips. We have to cut through a lot of junk in the process of learning something useful. As Google shows, many people are looking for the same things (starting on the same path you did, so to speak). If you’ve already done the footwork, why not share what you’ve learned? Hopefully, your experience will benefit someone. After all, knowledge is advanced through starting where those before you left off.

I was so excited that I posted this early and I come to find out it didn't post. So sorry it's a little late, but here it is.

As I said in class before; blogging comes from a need to feel relevant. If you blog, and especially if you can find proof that people read your blog, then you feel like people care about what you say. And who doesn’t like feeling like people care about their opinion? I know bloggers who watch page views almost religiously; unique page views are a huge cause for excitement since it is proof people care.

Another reason that I blog is to force me to keep up with relevant news stories and current events. I like the news, but I never do much research into them unless I write about them. My blog forces me to do that, lest I sound like a schmuck. But it is important to remember that a blog is also not an academic article. It is not up to the same peer standards, so you have to take everything with a grain of salt.

I do blog. I think that it is a great way to creatively express your opinion about, well, anything really. For me it's refreshing to write something outside the guidelines of school papers; where I can still touch on serious subjects, but am free to do so with a lighthearted manner. If you blog about personal things it also allows you to take a step back from your life and look at it more objectively.

I do think think that blogs are relevant. Though, I don't really think that it is a matter of if the blog is relevant or not, but who it is relevant to. No two pieces of writing will capture exactly the same audience, so while one may not be relevant to me, it does not mean that it won't be for someone else.

Haven't been on here in a while (dissertation calling...), but the fact that you have 13 comments (now 14) on here seems evidence in itself of the value of blogging. Scholarship is meant to be a process of communal affirmation, critique, and advancement. I think blogging is one of many ways to fulfill the call to "public intellectualism" that academia often lacks. Additionally, the assumption that slow scholarship is good scholarship is questionable. There is a time and a place for scholarship that is careful and drawn out--but that does not necessarily make it better. It can, in fact, simply be hedging on ideas that beg to be circulated quickly to a wide audience, with rapid feedback. Perhaps there is an energy from such efforts that propels and energizes ideas--a principle that seems to work pretty well in non-scholarly realms such as improvisational theater. Lastly--I think that we scholars sometimes forget that single articles do not necessarily make a career--it is "lines of research" that tend to be most productive. As such, blogging is a way to create fertile grounds for conclusions that stretch out across different media--whether it be online, through lectures, and eventually, in scholarly journals. Don Waisanen

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