For this essay I was required to follow a blog for seven days and comment on the posts. The blog I chose to follow is a private blog that I normally read called Life Of a Southern College Girl. Kristen is a young college girl, who resides in Mississippi and is in Greek Life. I identify with her because she is in Greek Life, and a senior in college just as I am. She is a very funny blogger, who always seems to have something going on in her life. One of the themes raised in Aaron Barlow’s book, Blogging America was what is the point of blogging and where is this whole phenomenon going? I believe that there is a point to every blog that has been created, even Kristen’s.
There are several political blogs, one that is exceptionally interesting around election time is Barack Obama’s blog. This blog, although not written by him directly is an official blog, created by his staff. This blog has one main purpose, and that is to keep his supporters updated on what was happening during the campaign. As a reader, one would easily be able to tell it is credible based on the website and the information. Another example is Frugal Fashionista . This blog is not nearly as serious as Obama’s blog, yet still credible. The Fashion blog takes designer outfits from the stars recreates the same outfit for a quarter of the price. This blog is on one specific topic, made for a certain group of people.
The difference between these two blogs and Kristen’s blog is the purpose for blogging. As stated before Obama, and Frugal are all meant for one purpose, and are all credible sources. Kristen’s blog is not meant for one particular purpose, or for any particular group of people. Her postings vary from day to day. Over the course that I have been following her blog she has posted topics on the election, and the outcome, guys, sorority functions, health issues, family, friends, college and the list goes on. For her, this blog is an outlet for her to get her emotions out to people who don’t physically know her. Since I have been following and posting on her blog for this essay she has talked about prepping for A Carnation Ball with her sorority sisters. She posted pictures of her dress, and all her accessories and the following night she created a post about the ball. In that following post she talked about a bunch of drama that happened with her date, and how she had expected never to talk to him. Of course, this sparked quite a few comments about what she should to in order to fix the situation. Here, we have a woman’s so called “diary” where people are leaving feedback on her life. The group of people commenting have become a small close knit group of friends that genuinely care about one another. Another example of this is a post from yesterday where she asked her readers to comment on a few blogs that they read daily. She had said that she wanted to branch out and have another reason to procrastinate. The point of that post is that she is reaching out to people that technically she doesn’t know in order to expand her horizons. She wants to be able to connect to more people which to me is what blogging is all about.
I believe that each blogger has a purpose for blogging. But, in the grand scheme of things, I think that the purpose of blogging as a whole is to create a sense of community in the vast world that we live in today. By entering the blogosphere, people establish connections, and receive feedback from readers. There are several blogs that I follow where people are ask for recipes, gift ideas, or even support when they are going through a hard time. There are even some bloggers who meet up with their blogging friends for drinks, or lunch because they know one another solely through blogging! People also enjoy having an outsiders opinion on their life, someone who doesn’t know them and could have a different perspective on their problems. So, in conclusion there may be blogs that seem like they don’t have a purpose, but to the author and it’s followers it is something that they look forward to reading on a daily basis. The internet and blogging has changed so much in recent years that no one knows where blogging will take us or what the purpose will be in ten years. But what we do know is that to each blogger, they are excited to get online to blog, and to be a part of that community they have created for themselves.
Barlow, Aaron. (2008). Blogging America. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
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I've never had my own blog before this class, and always wondered what the fascination was. I agree with Alyssa that in the grand scheme of things, people who blog are looking to communicate. Talking to people that they know is common, but some people follow and comment on the blogs of people they never met, sometimes even across the world. Those who blog their thoughts need an outlet to get their voices heard. Those who want to keep others updated on their lives are looking to connect with others. I think that blogging has revolutionized that way that we communicate with one another forever.
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