What in the world is up with the world of blogs? Blogs are meant to be this great new technology where people can share their ideas and interests with others around the globe. As far as Im concerned the state of blogs is one of chaos, confusion, and anti-interactivity. The other day I decided to do some research on the Web and try to connect to some blog writers out there that interested me. Let me tell you it was not an enjoyable task as I had envisioned. I spent four painful hours surfing through around a thousand on-line journals, and I found only a few that interested me. What are we doing out there people?
First of all, just getting to a blog can be a pain in the arse. For example, you type in the words Philosophy blogs and a whole bunch of sites come up. Some are conglomerate sites with thousands of journals, but the area youre searching for may have only one blog in it! This is because they separate the blogs into a million different categories, like love, lovers, lovable etc. Why not have just a few main categories to choose from?
The next problem is the content. People with philosophical blogs are having personal chats with their mates about the local dance competition on Tuesday! Why not go to a chat room if you just want to talk to your friends? Blogs are supposed to be a personal viewpoint expressed to the whole Web community. Wouldnt you actually like to meet more people like yourself? How is this going to happen if you talk in strange uncommon slang and acronyms that you and your friends can only understand? Please stick to the subject at hand, and take it at least half seriously.
Another major problem is the fact that you can find a really cool blog that sparks an interest, but then find that the writer hasnt added an entry in over a year! Whats it doing on the Net? Have these people passed away? I seriously doubt it, as there are so many blogs in this lost state. Having a blog is a responsibility; its a shared diary for the whole community. How can someone form a relationship if you only write in your blog once a millennium?
Back to the subject of content: These on-line journals are a real chance to communicate regularly with others with similar views to yourself. We can learn a lot from each other, as each human is an individual with special traits and skills that only they have. So why do we see so many blogs just talking about trivial nonsense like Who the coolest movie actor is. Humanity is an intelligent species evolving everyday towards a higher consciousness. So where are all the thinkers out there, the people who have taken us to the next levels of spirituality and scientific exploration? Id really like to hear what youve got to say, but all I can find are philosophical beliefs on why died pink jeans express ones true inner self.
The issue of making comments on someones blog is also a controversial one. Why have comments sections if youre not going to reply to people who have expressed an interest in what youve had to say? How is this community going to function if all the conversation is one-way! Come on people, wake up and smell the onions! Lets change the blogging community into the awesome structure of shared knowledge that it was intended for. Please dont let it turn into the small-talk world of chat rooms.
By Jesse S. Somer
Jesse S. Somer is a concerned human attempting to inform his fellow people of the real possibilities hidden in the Internet.