Blah, Blah, and then He Said . . .
Thousands of unremarkable people are posting their diaries on-line or does the Globe & Mail not understand ‘blogging? Yes, like the early days, the internet is full of “home pages” (remember those?) posing as weblogs, but there are also – even more – weblogs that serve a much different purpose. I’d say my ‘blog is better than a gossip column, but not by much, as it serves mainly for me to communicate my interests and opinions to a very limited audience, but who is the audience for Abbie the Cat or Tailors Today? If mainstream media embraces weblogging, either by setting up columnists with ‘blogs or hiring ‘bloggers as columnists (Instapundit is the prime example, but see also Andrew Sullivan), then surely there is more to the growth of the format than high schooler dishing. The level of specialization – whether topically as in “lawblogs” or “warblogs” – or regionally, as seen in the number of NYC-specific or ex-pat run ‘blogging communities, also show there is more to ‘blogs than gossip. I’d venture to suggest that quite a lot of information is being gathered and made accessible in ‘blogs that would otherwise be lost in the depths of the internet maze and that quite a lot of extraordinarily good and entertaining writing can be found on such “diaries” – more even than some columnists in the Globe & Mail are providing, if I can be allowed the odd catty remark.