More and more, I'm thinking about what blogs are actually good for; what their purpose serves that can't be met with e-mails, personal communication, etc.
Communication itself is another art (with corresponding philosophy entirely), which is important as one struggles to express herself (or himself) and perhaps more crucial than people realize as they struggle to express the thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes of others.
Not sure what it really matters in the long run; someday all of this information will just disappear with the hardware that houses it.
That's right - it matters because even with all of the abstractions, layers of sepearation from actual people, and impersonal "billboard" nature of the online domain, in the end it all still relates to people's lives and can have quite an impact on them. Information disappears, but consequences and impacts thereof tend to reach farther than the author probably intends to begin with.
I guess that's why I'm arguing that the purpose of a (widely public) blog isn't really to expose the personal workings of one's life, but more as a forum for other, perhaps more general or maybe just less sensitive issues that others might find interesting. When you're writing completely about your own life, it's a moot point, but few people live in a total vacuum and sooner or later it's almost certain that someone will feel uncomfortable with your represntation of them or their ideas.
I'm not arguing for better privacy laws, or anything like that, though, or even for a change in prevailing norms with respect to online behavior. I still contend that the less constrained the market is, the more informed and better satisfied the consumers will be.
No comments:
Post a Comment