Blogs - What do You Think?

[Oaf357]

Why do people have web logs?

What is the purpose of blogs?

Are they a wasteland of repeated information cluttering up the world wide web?

Are blogs a method of creating a personal home page for people that don't know how to create web sites and know nothing about web design?

Tell me what you think about blogs and why have they taken off in such a big way.

 

[Daniel]

I think you might have better luck in OT

 

[Soybomb]

Well my opinion is going to be a little biased but lets see.

People have blogs for a variety of reasons, to record their thoughts, share with others, keep in contact with friends lives, share their ideas and what they think is interesting, etc.

Everything on the internet is a wasteland of repeated information. The questions asked here are the same ones asked at the hardocp forums, which are the same ones asked on usenet, which are the same ones asked on mailing lists. You get different viewpoints from different people for both though. The internet isn't about having a book with one correct verified edited answer, its about open communication among people, so you're always going to have this and its a good thing. If you want to talk about clutter lets talk about spam, the joke emails that everyone is always forwarding to me, etc.

It isn't a substitute for personal home pages either, there are 1000s of tools, both downloadable and web based that help anyone create a crappy page for putting up pictures of their 36 cats. And there are certainly enough of those types of pages to show people have no trouble creating them.

Personally I keep a semi-updated blog and photoalbum up. Part of it is I enjoy writing, and I enjoy sharing my opinions. But I also have friends that read it, family that I link to the pictures, etc. If you want one source of information then go get a dictionary set, but I like blogs because I can interact with people (much like on a forum...).

You asked, I think its only fair if you answer your own questions too.

 

[skyking]

People are lonely, I think that is a leading reason for the popularity of blogs.......
I have a policy regarding this.....

the joke emails that everyone is always forwarding to me

I will block someone's addy or tell them to stop if they do not occaisionally type some original thought in an email to me.
I don't get much of that type of spam anymore.

 

[Oaf357]

Originally posted by: skyking
People are lonely, I think that is a leading reason for the popularity of blogs.......
I have a policy regarding this.....

the joke emails that everyone is always forwarding to me

I will block someone's addy or tell them to stop if they do not occaisionally type some original thought in an email to me.
I don't get much of that type of spam anymore.

I do the same thing. Interesting.

Some of you are probably wondering why I didn't post this in OT. Well I want educated opinions from web professionals. This was the best place, IMO.

A lot of people I've talked to see blogs as an Internet fad. A perpetual evolution of web publishing of sorts that makes it so easy to publish ANYTHING. There are quite a few tools to make web pages but eventually you'll look at HTML with them. A turnkey blogger might not even know what HTML is. This is an excerpt of a conversation I had with someone about this very topic:

Oaf357: do you think that blogs could have been a useful addition to the world wide web if everyone in the world didn't have one?
The Guy: not really. they don't add anything to the www that doesn't already exists, functionality-wise. and content-wise, it just adds clutter. i mean, who the f*ck cares? i don't have a sign in my front yard with all my daily musings, events, etc. i just think it is really a waste of time. if you want to keep a journal, fine, but you do it for yourself. if your life is so empty that you need to spill yourself out to the mass public, then you need to get out of the house more and find a life. just my 2 cents.

 

[JackMDS]

Transitional Cultural phenomenon (remember Pet Rocks?).

 

[Oaf357]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Transitional Cultural phenomenon (remember Pet Rocks?).

So blogs will be something we make fun of in 20 years?

 

[skyking]

So blogs will be something we make fun of in 20 years?

unless they evolve considerably, we can always hope.........

 

[Oaf357]

I've been asking around about this topic in many other places. The general consensus I'm getting is that blogs are "for me and my friends" and that they are, in general, worthless.

So let's answer the true question:

Why in the hell are they so popular?

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Oaf357
I've been asking around about this topic in many other places. The general consensus I'm getting is that blogs are "for me and my friends" and that they are, in general, worthless.

So let's answer the true question:

Why in the hell are they so popular?

Transitional Cultural phenomenon!

Being published, having your name attached to some thing is very self - valuable to most people.

E.g. In the academic circles there is an underground competition. People put their name into search ignition and see how many URL will come up with there name in it. I know some people who do it on a daily basis.

However to get really published you have to put a lot of effort and need talent (which unfortunately most of us do not have).

Blogging is easy, no talent no real effort is needed; as a result once the novelty is over it will disappear.

 

[Oaf357]

So it's more of a psychological/ego thing than an inform the public thing?

 

[Soybomb]

The general consensus I'm getting is that blogs are "for me and my friends" and that they are, in general, worthless.

I guess that all depends on what you view as being worthless. Personally the reason I'm going into network in general is because I'm into communication between people. No matter if its writing something for a newspaper, taking pictures for a newspaper, televising an event, or writing for a small audience that may only consist of family and friends. Seeing people talk, share ideas, etc is what the internet is about to me, and the blog is just another way of that happening. If we're going to be picky, why do we have forums and mailing lists? Usenet already does those things, so why clutter the net up with more crap like this forum?

There are certainly blogs with different objectives. I write in mine not so much like a journal of daily events but stuff in general that may be on my mind. If I did keep a journal though of what I was thinking I could do nothing more than close the book on it and let it sit. With a blog I can write what I'm thinking of and get feedback from others, which I think is pretty cool. If you don't want to read it, no one is forcing you to, but if it is something you're interested in then why not have another form of getting information about the subject? Other blogs are definatley more public news centric like slashdot.org though too. No matter I don't think you'll ever see blogs go away. They're certainly trendy, but so were personal home pages. Not everyone has one anymore, but many people do still keep one. The number of people who blog will go down over time, but its here to stay I think.

What may be worthless to you, may not be to someone else. As a comparison I can't sit around and read technical manuals all day. They're certainly more "useful" than the sci-fi book, but it doesn't mean its any better.

 

[hjo3]

I actually read some ppl's blogs for entertainment. Blogs that deal with personal information and get updated daily/every-other-day can be fun to read. Like web comics or soap operas. And, hey, sometimes you even learn stuff.

 

[Oaf357]

Soybomb,

So blogs are just communication evolution. But, after e-mail, IM, forums, chats, mailing lists, etc. why blogs? E-mail, IMs, forums (to a certain extent), chat (to a certain extent), and mailing lists (to a certain extent) can all be somewhat private. Why make what was once somewhat private, a globally accessible subject? Yes, it creates a central location for everyone in your clan/family/circle of friends, etc. to get information from you but why would you want that information that was once a semi-private topic of discussion to be a public topic of discussion?

I am not saying that blogs are worthless, it's what I'm being told by others.

IMO /. gave birth to the blog I would however not consider /. your typical blog though.

hjo3,

So it's kinda like reality TV to a degree? So is that why blogs have become incredibly popular recently?

 

[Soybomb]

Why make what was once somewhat private, a globally accessible subject?

I wouldn't consider forums, irc, or usenet especially to be private at all. Either though why not? I'm a huge privacy advocate, but at the same time, some things don't need to be private. Most blogs don't have all that much sensitive stuff in them really. You'll find alot more emotion and intimate thought in stuff like poetry, but not all people keep their poetry to themselves.

As an example of what I like... I saw a cool new show on TV and posted that I liked it and it was worth watching, etc. If you check the comments now one of the writers/voices on the show has posted. I think its cool to see they liked their job enough to keep up with their work even though its no longer in production. I imagine they like hearing people liked the show. Certainly not earth shattering by any means, but just good communication between people on a subject they're interested in. Lets face it, thats why we're here... (post http://johnmearns.com/blog/archives/000017.html)

 

[Oaf357]

Ahh... the question is how did those people find your web log?

Is it the archival ability that makes them popular?

 

[Davegod75]

they are a waste of time imho

 

[Oaf357]

Originally posted by: Davegod75
they are a waste of time imho

Why?

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: Oaf357
Ahh... the question is how did those people find your web log?

Is it the archival ability that makes them popular?

Nearly all visitors come from google or yahoo.

 

[Oaf357]

So could I say that the archival ability of blogs is a key, in your opinion.

 

[Soybomb]

Nope, it depends on the blog. News blogs have little use for archives, at least for me. The only thing older than a day or two I'd look at on slashdot would be interviews. Everything else is really of no interest. Although to someone else who was interested in the comments there it might be. Seldom do I participate in the discussion there though so I don't care.

My personal one yes I like the archive concept, but then again I have most of my emails from sooooo many years ago for no particular reason.

I would say archiving is a nice bonus at times, but the communication and interaction is the real draw.

 

[Oaf357]

But Google is how people came in to communicate. If it weren't for archiving Google would get the most recent thing you put up.

 

[Soybomb]

Heh true, but there is still only so long that I care to keep reading on the subject. Currently my oldest entry on the main page is Feb 14th. If I didn't archive and link back that far I'd be quite fine with it.

Honestly the archives benefit others more than they do me, much like the forums here. If I participated in a thread here three years ago, I probably don't care to read someone's new thoughts on what I said then anymore. At the time it was great, but its just too far back. Although to someone else looking for information on the subject, searching archived posts may lead them to what they're looking for.

 

[Oaf357]

Good point.

So what do you think about Google (and potentially other search engines) not indexing blogs in their main indexes? Also, why do you think Google is considering doing this?

 

[xSauronx]

dont read em
just read one, pretend its interesting....then tell someone about it
person 1 "hey i read where this guy *blah blah blah*"
person 2 "oh, what book was that in?"
person 1 "no no, on the internet, some guys site..."
person 2 "just some guy? you dont know him? get outside"

person 1 "...*cries in despair*"

see. thats what blogs are for...to make you cry, be wary.