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Monday, September 05, 2005
A Blog and its Purpose (Essay: Blogs)
Ever since I started writing things pertaining to whatever I could think of and put in a reasonable context here, I've always been hard-pressed to use the term 'blog' in any way. A blog is simply what this website is at its root - an online 'diary' of sorts, or, more precisely, a series of statements of varying length, posted regularly on the web address specified (in this case,
http://brinsthebins.blogspot.com).
But the truth is, for some reason, I'm not fond of the word blog at all; it's simply one of those words that doesn't really sound very nice to me, whether in the context of this context, or in the context of that context (to paraphrase the Scottish English education system [which, incidentally, I consider to be quite messed up and furthermore a self-cancellation (Scottish English? Scottish English?!)]).
Just getting away from that painful use of brackets, what could the reason be for the word 'blog' sounding not-very-nice to me? I can't pinpoint it, but even if I could, I'd rather let you tell me just for fun.
You might consider my dislike for the word blog to be quite silly, and it certainly is pointless, but there's a larger dislike revolving around blogs; one that doesn't relate to the nature of the term, either; it's the idea itself.
If you've ever been to a website which is updated every so often, you might have noticed an 'updates' section where webmaster(s) type updates to their site. Think of a blog as basically that page, but where the updates are not updates, but whatever kind of thing the webmaster would like to say. In most cases, I would imagine, people will use their blogs to convey their thoughts and feelings, opinions and concerns, personal experiences, situations, and dilemmas. Writing about such things will help them to get their thoughts to a wider field, and that field is the internet. Perhaps they have thoughts they wouldn't vent in their own lives, but feel secure in doing so to in pseudonymity. I guess there's a lot of alter-egos that many develop for themselves, becoming entirely different people to the audience of the web. There are also many blogs which have some role to play, or a theme to meet. Some would document people's changing lives much like a diary, whereas others would act as something of a chatting lounge, where a group of friends (on or off-line) comment on posts and talk together in this way. Even more blogs are there to fulfill countless other purposes, like providing news on events, or providing educational content.
However, it appears as though there is quite a lot of contempt harboured for the blog that would act as the individual diary of thought and feel; scorn is poured by some quite heavily on the notion of people creating blogs as a means of achieving this. Some consider it childish to express one's views and state of mind on this plain; some more complain that no-one wants to know what these people think, these 'nobodies' who, outwith their family and close friends, nobody can even relate to at all. There are surely some who would like to see a ban on this kind of blog altogether.
It's an interesting point of view -
indeed, who wants to know how some snotty-nosed, socially-pressured adolescent feels about the state of peer-pressure and the blockades of social circumstances/credentials that separate him from those he played merrily with in the playground just a few years ago; let alone any other opinions or statements that might utter from this silly boy's keyboard (or whatever utensil he's using to type things into the computer; I don't know, there might be others now)! Or how about a middle-aged car mechanic's two cents on government spending plans?
A young girl's mental frame as she searches for something to wear to an upcoming disco?
A retired fish-monger's proverbial interpretation of the Biblical 'feeding of the five-thousand'?
Why not a poor, qualificationless woman on her vain search for a fulfilling job, and her reflections on how she feels the national education system has let her and many others down?
Why not even a recent school-leaver who feels obliged to assist school-pupils through their school-lives with the information and experience he has gained doing the same thing?
That last one might sound familiar, and if it does, hurrah! I have a reader!
I disagree with the notion that the alleged 'nobodies' have no place discussing what they will to a greater audience. The way it looks to me, in actual fact, is that we live in a society where there is, debatably, something of a disregard for the modern plebeian's role in the world outwith productivity. It would seem that one needs to be famous or clearly knowledgeable to have a respectable say, or a position to voice their voices. I would contest that the individual has a lot more to say than most give credit for, and a lot more behind their belt then what's written on their graduation certificates (or the lack of them). I would go so far as to say that we can learn just as much, if not infinitely more, from our aforementioned spotty-nosed, socially-pressured adolescent, or even young girl searching for a nice dress, than from Stephen Hawking or some other famously well-learned people (can't think of any right now... oh, Einstein! Wait, he's dead...). Though you might have some trouble syphoning the nature and role of black holes in the space-time continuum from either young person, let alone much else on physics, an open mind can tap into a reservoir of thought that may have eluded them for many years, or unlock a gateway to a whole new outlook on life, or more precisely, a frame of mind.
Let's give all those blogs a chance, for those who write them and for ourselves, and let the blog roll on forever!
...And on that note, I just realised that there's a pun in that last statement. Work it out, and you are a really useful engine, not to mention a patriarch for our blogging empire!
Read all that? Hey... wait, where are you - come back at once! I'm trying to pry your mind open!! N- No, not literally!!
In case you are wondering as to the questionable rationality of the pictures used in this post, it's because I couldn't think of any other pictures to use at the time. Let's just say it's the power of blogging at work, or something along those lines, ok?
UPDATE: I think I've corrected all the noticeable spelling mistakes here. Brins gets analytical!
Ever since I started writing things pertaining to whatever I could think of and put in a reasonable context here, I've always been hard-pressed to use the term 'blog' in any way. A blog is simply what this website is at its root - an online 'diary' of sorts, or, more precisely, a series of statements of varying length, posted regularly on the web address specified (in this case,
http://brinsthebins.blogspot.com).
But the truth is, for some reason, I'm not fond of the word blog at all; it's simply one of those words that doesn't really sound very nice to me, whether in the context of this context, or in the context of that context (to paraphrase the Scottish English education system [which, incidentally, I consider to be quite messed up and furthermore a self-cancellation (Scottish English? Scottish English?!)]).
Just getting away from that painful use of brackets, what could the reason be for the word 'blog' sounding not-very-nice to me? I can't pinpoint it, but even if I could, I'd rather let you tell me just for fun.
You might consider my dislike for the word blog to be quite silly, and it certainly is pointless, but there's a larger dislike revolving around blogs; one that doesn't relate to the nature of the term, either; it's the idea itself.
If you've ever been to a website which is updated every so often, you might have noticed an 'updates' section where webmaster(s) type updates to their site. Think of a blog as basically that page, but where the updates are not updates, but whatever kind of thing the webmaster would like to say. In most cases, I would imagine, people will use their blogs to convey their thoughts and feelings, opinions and concerns, personal experiences, situations, and dilemmas. Writing about such things will help them to get their thoughts to a wider field, and that field is the internet. Perhaps they have thoughts they wouldn't vent in their own lives, but feel secure in doing so to in pseudonymity. I guess there's a lot of alter-egos that many develop for themselves, becoming entirely different people to the audience of the web. There are also many blogs which have some role to play, or a theme to meet. Some would document people's changing lives much like a diary, whereas others would act as something of a chatting lounge, where a group of friends (on or off-line) comment on posts and talk together in this way. Even more blogs are there to fulfill countless other purposes, like providing news on events, or providing educational content.
However, it appears as though there is quite a lot of contempt harboured for the blog that would act as the individual diary of thought and feel; scorn is poured by some quite heavily on the notion of people creating blogs as a means of achieving this. Some consider it childish to express one's views and state of mind on this plain; some more complain that no-one wants to know what these people think, these 'nobodies' who, outwith their family and close friends, nobody can even relate to at all. There are surely some who would like to see a ban on this kind of blog altogether.
It's an interesting point of view -
indeed, who wants to know how some snotty-nosed, socially-pressured adolescent feels about the state of peer-pressure and the blockades of social circumstances/credentials that separate him from those he played merrily with in the playground just a few years ago; let alone any other opinions or statements that might utter from this silly boy's keyboard (or whatever utensil he's using to type things into the computer; I don't know, there might be others now)! Or how about a middle-aged car mechanic's two cents on government spending plans?
A young girl's mental frame as she searches for something to wear to an upcoming disco?
A retired fish-monger's proverbial interpretation of the Biblical 'feeding of the five-thousand'?
Why not a poor, qualificationless woman on her vain search for a fulfilling job, and her reflections on how she feels the national education system has let her and many others down?
Why not even a recent school-leaver who feels obliged to assist school-pupils through their school-lives with the information and experience he has gained doing the same thing?
That last one might sound familiar, and if it does, hurrah! I have a reader!
I disagree with the notion that the alleged 'nobodies' have no place discussing what they will to a greater audience. The way it looks to me, in actual fact, is that we live in a society where there is, debatably, something of a disregard for the modern plebeian's role in the world outwith productivity. It would seem that one needs to be famous or clearly knowledgeable to have a respectable say, or a position to voice their voices. I would contest that the individual has a lot more to say than most give credit for, and a lot more behind their belt then what's written on their graduation certificates (or the lack of them). I would go so far as to say that we can learn just as much, if not infinitely more, from our aforementioned spotty-nosed, socially-pressured adolescent, or even young girl searching for a nice dress, than from Stephen Hawking or some other famously well-learned people (can't think of any right now... oh, Einstein! Wait, he's dead...). Though you might have some trouble syphoning the nature and role of black holes in the space-time continuum from either young person, let alone much else on physics, an open mind can tap into a reservoir of thought that may have eluded them for many years, or unlock a gateway to a whole new outlook on life, or more precisely, a frame of mind.
Let's give all those blogs a chance, for those who write them and for ourselves, and let the blog roll on forever!
...And on that note, I just realised that there's a pun in that last statement. Work it out, and you are a really useful engine, not to mention a patriarch for our blogging empire!
Read all that? Hey... wait, where are you - come back at once! I'm trying to pry your mind open!! N- No, not literally!!
In case you are wondering as to the questionable rationality of the pictures used in this post, it's because I couldn't think of any other pictures to use at the time. Let's just say it's the power of blogging at work, or something along those lines, ok?
UPDATE: I think I've corrected all the noticeable spelling mistakes here. Brins gets analytical!
Brins would appreciate it if you didn't swear in your comments
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