With a question as general as this it is hard to establish an exact answer. According to the article "Why we blog" there seems to be a very wide range of answers, reasoning's and motivators behind blogging. Blogging is considered by a majority of people as an entry level form of online expression yet to some bloggers it was a bit more impact-full and that readers had a good bit to do with how bloggers blog. On top of that, most bloggers seem to keep a set of rules or code of ethics so to speak. One thing from the article that surprised me was that bloggers censor their content when the reader demographic changes. The example given by some of the bloggers is that their families are a part of their readership. One blogger mentioned how he censored his own blog because his mom and grandmother are both active readers. One blogger stated how they keep it a purely family oriented forum. However, one blogger that I found the most refreshing was a female blogger with differentiating political views to her uncle and how she took that into consideration by not making inflammatory political statements because he is an active reader.
Overall, I felt the article addressed the extremely general question in a very informative manner. I feel that blogging is generally a very individual form of self expression but this article has opened up my thinking about what bloggers take into consideration. They play to their own readership much like newspapers and other written media outlets do in a professional setting.
Jordan,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. One thing that surprised me as well was the censorship as well. If you really think about it, I'm sure a lot of people filter what they say based on who is reading it. The article was very informative and I think we all learned a good amount from it. Excited to read your future posts!
I think the article was great, and censorship surprised me too. In my opinion I do not really understand what the point of blogging is if you have to censor it for certain viewers. One blogs to express themselves, and when you are censoring yourself you are hiding a piece of yourself.
ReplyDeleteI was both surprised and impressed by how carefully people manage their blogs. Blogs are always portrayed as public diaries, used solely for venting without fear of being judged (an audience typically walks on eggshells when speaking to an author). It seems to be forgotten, however, that forums full of useful, "kid-friendly" information are also considered to be blogs.
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