THE MEANING OF LIFE
After spending sometime link jumping from blog-site to blog-site I have realised that the vast majority of sites are nothing more than a space for intellectual masturbation.Everybody is a master philosopher with great big words and circular riddles. Everybody knows how to debunk religions they are not into with clever loop holes and contradictions. Everybody is a political genius who slams their opponents laughable policies. Everybody who writes is right, their opinions have never before been discovered, and all who read these apples have, as Oprah says, an Ah Ha moment, and the world shifts.
A blog site reflects on nothing other than the person who writes them. Who writes a blog anyway? A grandiose scheme to show the world how insanely clever I am and how no one has looked at the world like me before. I am clearly the next Da Vinci and this site will keep a record of my drawing board.
Of course this is all a bit of an oxymoron, but hopefully my writing about blogs will reveal the depth of my talent of introspection and inspire the world to take a good hard look at itself. I believe this one will stop war in Iraq.
The vast majority of sites, including this one, are nothing more than a space for intellectual masturbation, but then again what the hell else are we supposed to do on here?
Intellectual "masturbation" or not, blogs can and do have a role.
It used to be that very few people got to do an 'editorial' on the issues of the world. We were all subjects to the media. The dichotomy of media and public is melting. Now anyone can put his or her oar in. The so-called democratisation of the media is very wide indeed. Even if it is just your podium - it is at least YOUR podium.
It used to be that the only 'dialogue' that occurred in public was the opinions pages of the Herald or the Listener. Now blogs are the forums for this discussion, exchanges of information and whatnot. There is a collective intelligence developing where by reading several blogs you can have the common knowledge shared by several people.
But blogs can be more than that. It really depends on the author and (if they have one) the audience. Most of the blogs I look at are personal diary types with only moments of editorialisation. It is a great way to keep up with people that you never get the chance to have a coffee with.
It is also a platform for thought. Personally, I think better when I can put it onto paper (or on the screen).
So on the whole, I don't think you're necessarily right in your pessimism of bloggers.
Posted by
Crypticity |
5/22/2006 03:48:00 pm
Crypticity,
Fair enough.
I do think blogs have potential and I wrote about that in my JOURNALISM: BEYOND THE FACE OF IT. blogg
I was just writing what I saw when I had a surf around this morning. Of course I believe that the growing pubic sphere due to web changes is a fantastic thing. I just think we are at an interesting stage in its evolution. I don’t think any of the new journalism that I am excited about has got here yet, and I am all editorialised out. But then its all editorial isn’t it ;)
Frank,
I said ‘most’ of the blog sites I had a look at were as I described. Not all, and certainly not yours.
People actually read your blog, and you attach yourself to it. You have to live your blog because of your unique position. I don’t. I am in a position where I can make flippant comments, like in this particular blog, and sit smugly on the fence. I don’t have to attribute myself to a thing.
That is a major difference between Chew the Fat and A Servents Thoughts. That and the fact that your space has helped many, including me, and mine is a selfish indulgence.
Posted by
Chris |
5/22/2006 04:53:00 pm
Masturbation is good. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Posted by
Anonymous |
7/02/2006 09:53:00 pm