For some reason today I was inspired to enter the so called "blog-o-sphere". It could be that my best friend is a resident of the blog-o-sphere, or it could be that I am self involved enough to think that people are really going to be concerned with what it is that I have to say about life and the world. Either way- here I am blogging away. To me blogging is kind of mind boggling, I mean really it makes it possible for anyone in the world to put their thoughts on the internet. In some ways this scares me because- lets face it there are some thoughts that should just be kept to yourself. But it also fills me with a sense of empowerment. I mean really, here I am at 21 years old and I have access to a vehicle that allows me to share my ideas with the world. Used in the right way blogs are a great way to start a social movement. Just think what the Civil Rights movement could have been like if Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr had had blogs. It could have been global. However, at the same time I feel nostalgia for the days when people would pick up a sign and march on Washington to support their cause. Yes I know that there are groups that still have annual marches on Washington- but they are not like those of our country's past. With the advent of the internet and the "blog-o-sphere" I feel that people have found a way to support a cause without doing it publicly. Lets face it- if you want to support a cause by blogging all you have to do is create a screenname and that gives you a make shift "invisability cloak". You can speak freely without any of the back-lash which comes along with speaking your mind openly in a public place. I am just as guilty of this as anyone else. This is my first time blogging but this is not the first time I have used the internt to voice my opinion. No- I am not always voicing a political opinion via the internet, many times the opinion I give is shared with my friends and is regarding celebrities or fashion. However, an opinion is an opinion regardless of the content.
As I sit in my room writing this and reading over what I have written I am wondering- why do I feel the need to say any of the above statements? And I guess the answer to that would be that I feel better giving a voice to the thoughts in my mind. I feel lighter having got some of that off my perverbial chest. Is the world a better place because I wrote it? Well no, but I am more psychologically at peace (whatever that means?). I guess that makes me selfish, but then again returning to what I said previous- isn't that kind of what the blog-o-sphere is about? It's about publishing your thoughts so the world can read them because you think they are just that important. I feel like as far as first blog postings this one is a little heavy- have no fear I can assure all of you reading this (which could possibily be no one) that the posts to follow will probably be more light hearted then this one.
Stay tuned....
Interesting ideas. What do you think about accessibility causing apathy? Before the "blogosphere" people had to actually care to get things done, now it seems that people can half-ass their opinions, and hide under the cape of "invisibility" (as you so adequately described) instead of actually being passionate and present when submitting their views to the public sphere. I think the civil rights movement might have been hindered by this mindset. I don't think MLK's speech would have been as good via webcam, and I'm pretty sure Malcolm X would have been just another angsty blog that people read with a sigh, and a click onto the next webpage.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, interesting thoughts Ellie. More!
lol you're hilarious and i'm glad to see that someone is actually reading my blog. i haven't come across anything else to write about right now but as soon as i come up with a good idea i will write away
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