Readings (2)

Or, a Short History of Blogging

I expected these histories of blogs to draw some connections between blogs and published diaries or other types of alternative media, but instead they mostly focused on the technical history. Rebecca Blood states that, “when we talk about weblogs, we're talking about a way of organizing information, independent of its topic.” She traces the evolution of the blog from collections of links by people who were “web enthusiasts” to the introduction of applications like Blogger, which allow pretty much anyone to blog.

I found Rebecca Blood’s observation that as she began to blog she “began to feel that my perspective was unique and important” amusing. I’ve been reluctant to blog because I don’t think I have enough to say (“today I read a book, yesterday I ate some cheese”). It’s nice to know that that will change!

However, I found some of what she said about the implications of blogs (statements like, “as with free speech itself, what we say isn't as important as the system that enables us to say it”, for example) a little melodramatic. Her statement that blogs are “a medium free of the physical limitations of pages, intrusions of editors, and delays of tedious publishing systems” highlighted some of the major differences between blogs and “traditional publishing”—such as gatekeepers. But I think it’s important to remember that someone who doesn’t have access to the internet won’t have access to blogs either.

Reading that over, it sounds somewhat negative, and I certainly don’t think it is. I think the progression from html-aficionados to a tool of the everyman (and everylibrary) is positive.

Finally, Technorati is very useful— and addictive.