Disagree: blogging isn't writing
I saw Contagion the movie on Saturday night and had to share a funny but semi-offensive quote from it:
Blogging isn't writing. It's just graffiti with punctuation.
Graffiti is a way of expressing oneself to the public. It allows the masses to see your work and react to it. You may even get fellow graffiti-ers to "comment" on your graffiti by making their mark under or on top of your graffiti. Blogging is a lot like graffiti: anyone can do it, and you don't have to be good. Blogging is a way to get your opinion and your experiences semi-published.
Just like graffiti, there are some people who are so good at blogging that they actually get commissioned to do it in high traffic areas, and the people see it. Think muralist = professional blogger. On the other hand, there are amateur graffiti artists who just spray paint a few random bubble letters on the concrete wall in a dark bridge underpass, just to make their mark in the world out of boredom.
In all honesty, blogging isn't really writing when compared to published works: it allows for poor grammar, misspelled words, and the lack of references to back up a claim. (Note that these mistakes will diminish the credibility of a blogger, but these blunders can still occur.) Opinion meshes with the truth and can be misunderstood as hard and fast facts.
Overall, blogging may not compare to real journalism or other types of published works as the movie insinuated, but it's still an art form that may or may not be appreciated by consumers. Bloggers just want to touch the lives of others.
What do you think? Is blogging writing, or is it just junk?
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Cover photo by Dan Counsell
