A Blog About Blogging

One of the things that enjoy reading the most on the internet is academic witty banter. I hesitate to use the word academic, but I will explain that in just a moment. I think that short witty banter is currently in high demand as memes, gifs, and other clever quips go viral by the second. Part of the reason why this could be is because they are easy to connect with, they are about an interesting topic, and of course they are comical. Just as I think some memes are more worthy or true than others, I feel the same about blogs. I love blogs that make me think and mostly that make me laugh. I am a person that loves to rant and loves to form open opinions about many topics. One of the best places to find this common interest without having to leave my couch, is reading blogs. Here is my disclaimer though: I feel like "good" blogs are hard to find, and I feel like I have to have an academic background knowledge before I believe blogs.

I think that blogs are a perfect tool to use to further a thought process, idea, explanation, hypothesis, or something that you noticed in the academic arena. While there are many blogs that are not about these things, like a food blog, book blog, or a play-by-play of a persons life blog, I am not really discussing these ones. But as a quick side note I think that it is amazing that people can find a blog for just about anything they are interested. This is one of the main reasons that bloggers become successful in blogging what they are passionate about as seen in an interview of famous blogger Jaime Derringer. Blogs written by critics, activists, and forward thinkers are what I am addressing. A video that I watched awhile ago sums up how blogs are a place that we can talk about and question things in blogging that we can't in any other place. As said in the video (around 3:15) blogging is a space that claims can be made and discussed before they become an actual fact on paper. This is why I love blogs. I think that it is extremely important for people to realize that is a claim until proven otherwise. I think that blogs can be helpful to start questioning things, get a creative thought process going that can then be thought about. So much idea for thought and action can come from blogs. I also like that typically the language that is used in blogs is usually easier to understand and just more fun to read than academics journals to be honest (again academia should confirm what is said before it becomes "fact"). This makes blogs sometimes feel more accessible and useful.

In return to bloggers, people can comment on others blogs and become a part of the thinking process. If there is a blog that is asking a question, (like the video brought up, is the Pope gay?) it is now open for public discussion and discourse can happen on the topic. This discourse and criticism is something that can happen maybe more openly on blogging sites that it may not be able to in others. 

I realize that this discussion has focused on a very specific type of blog, but to be honest that is mostly what I read. From political blogs to feminist blogs, I mostly like readings other peoples rants and forward thinking thoughts. I think that it is a useful place to go for new insights that I can take further and more academic if I want. I think that is is an interesting place to have and read discussion that is I find valuable and other people do too. I feel like I have also explained my hesitations when it comes to reading blogs and what "good" blog looks like to me.