“You’re basically standing on a soapbox and reading something out loud only with a blog it feels like there’s a big community square and everyone’s got a soapbox and they’re about the same height and everyone’s reading at the same time. So it’s a matter of people going and listening to one and oh, I don’t like what you’re saying and blogging with someone else and listening to what they’re saying until you happen to find someone who is saying something interesting or you happen to know where your friend is on his soapbox saying something”. -Jennifer
Blogging, just like many other social networking sites, gives people the ability to connect with others and talk to others about common interests. The quote from this weeks reading “A Blogger’s Blog: Exploring the Definition of a Medium” pretty much sums up the meaning behind social networking, people want to be heard and by putting their ideas on the internet they are potentially given the feedback or support they are looking for. This was also talked about in class last week, that it kind of feels good or is comforting when someone comments on something you posted on facebook or twitter. Seeing comments on posts give people the comfort that others are listening and that they also agree or relate to what you have to say.
Blogs are sometimes called online diaries which goes to show that blogs are made for people to express their feelings and ideas to an unbiased audience. By blogging about feelings and ideas people are given some kind of relief, and by knowing others are reading their posts people are given comfort. Bloggers are able to read comments and communicate back and forth to their readers and as a result create a network of people who share the same ideas that they do.
I guess it makes sense that people would use the internet to find others with same interests, considering you can connect with anyone in the world, but what ever happened to real human interaction? But I guess that blogs give people the ability to say things that would maybe be socially unacceptable in real life, like talking about how much they love knitting, or talking solely about themselves.
