January 28, 2012
WRT 235
Instructor MacKnight
Reading Response
Blogs: The online diary you don't keep to yourself
Rebecca Blood's article "Weblogs: A history and perspective" talked about the history and impact the blog has had in the electronic community. As she states in her article, in 1999 the editor of Insofit complied a list of all the blogs that were thought to have existed at the time. Back then there were only 23 known blogs existing and since then that number has grown tremendously. In fact, that same year web-based tools such as Pitas and Blogger were created. These blog making tools were free, easy to use and helped people create blogs quickly.
Blood discusses how blogs allow people to write down their thoughts and reflect on them while at the same time communicate with other individuals. Through these blogs people can share things such as links or articles that are known to only a few, or it can be a place where people can share thoughts and opinions and interact with others who might share the same beliefs. By blogging one can might find a link that they would have never found by themselves and they can develop friendships with other bloggers all over the world.
Before reading this article I did not understand what a blog was or why people participate in such an activity. However, now I understand a little better and see the myriad of uses that blogs can have. I see them now as something similar to a diary or journal. Like a diary a blog can help one organize their thoughts, document observations and write about what they are passionate about. Unlike a diary however, a blog is not something that is kept secret and hidden. Instead, anyone can access it and comment on it making it fun and a much more interactive experience than any journal could ever be.
