Hello everyone! My name is Meghan Mitchell and I just transferred to Cornell as a junior. I’m originally from Hayward, California which is about 30 minutes from San Francisco. I’m really looking forward to experiencing a New York winter. I was previously a Business major but switched to become a Communications major/AEM minor. I love meeting new people and having a good time.
An Internet phenomenon that I find interesting is no other than blogging. Blogging….why do people blog? Blogging is an expression of oneself via the Internet. People have various reasons and motives for blogging. In general though, I believe blogging is a growing phenomenon in today’s society that allows numerous opportunities for people to freely express their thoughts and opinions without the worry of consequences. People feel safe and comfortable giving the world access to view and comment on their postings. Blogging may begin as a pastime but it soon evolves into a habitual action, as it’s both fun and rewarding. For some, blogging is a means for people to help change the world one blog posting at a time. Blogs challenge who we are and ultimately challenge how we view life. Blogging is also a way for many of us to escape reality and dive into a place where we feel content and liberated. It’s a way to stay connected to people in other countries, states, or cities and it’s a means of entertainment. As opposed to commenting on a magazine or a newspaper article, blogging is a fairly easy task. All in all, blogging is a great way to be heard and gain new perspectives at the same time.
Blogging fits into the online environment of asynchronous discussion forum. Blogging is a place where there’s no set format or topic guideline and people are free to comment on other postings. Blogging takes place anytime of the day and is readily available for convenient use. It’s a place to share ideas on topics that interest you and others for however long you desire.
2 comments:
Hey Meghan
Nice post. Not to be a pessimist, but I was wondering if you thought of any negative effects of the blogging phenomenon.
Unfortunately I don’t have an answer to your rhetorical question, “why do people blog?” I was wondering the same thing the other day. There are a few blogs on stocks and a few other informational blogs that I find to be an interesting contrast to mass media. However, some aspects of blogs which solely discuss one’s personal life (a diary?), I fail to understand. What happened to the days when diaries were locked away in dressers? It seems that a major difference between the secret, traditional, ideal diary is that the audience is completely different. The diary becomes a performance. This makes me wonder, does anyone out there live their lives in a certain way for the purpose of blogging it later? Im sure there are.
Interesting first post, Meghan. You seem to have covered the gamut for reasons why people blog. I think your most interesting reason for blogging is that for some people blogs are an escape from reality. Wallace's notion that home pages allow for finely crafted self-presentation is applicable here because blogs are similar to the home pages of yesteryear. Because blogs are frequently updated, their authors are constantly engaging in self-presentation. The online persona of the blogger could challenge people who know them in “real life” to create a new perception of the blogger, but it could also be that the blogger is presenting themselves in a way that conflicts with reality.
By the way, I'm originally from central Florida and have been in Ithaca since '02. I've enjoyed every winter I've spent here, I hope you do too.
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