“Visit my blog at …” Invitations –usually offered as orders- are everywhere. It seems as though whatever media genre I am wading through, I am encouraged to plunge online and swim through someone’s blog. Indeed, nowadays it is as if radio programming, newspapers, magazines, books, television (especially “news” programs), and even movies are all merely tributaries to a stream of conversation occurring in blogs. But are they truly the next best thing, or are blogs another passing fad? And how, if at all, will they alter the structure of discourse? These are questions that I am left to answer for myself when a friend suggests that I should host a blog.
Salesmen of blogging services would have us believe that everyone is blogging. Those hyping the new trend often quote statistics similar to those found in a Pew Internet & American Life Project report in July 2006. It estimated that the US "blog population has grown to about 12 million American adults."[1] Indeed, even real estate agents are trying to jump on the bandwagon in order to drive up perceived credibility. At first glance, this would appear to be an astonishing number. And then one discovers that nearly 53% of bloggers are teenagers or younger. [2] I am left to wonder if I should have stayed in Neverland. Perhaps my adult perspective is too stale for this fresh format. Truthfully, I rarely (and even then only reluctantly) view myself as an adult, so perhaps I can get away with it. Of course, I will probably have to cut back on the use of words like “tributary”…let’s hope not.
It is a common trait (apparently 60-80%) for blogs to be abandoned within a month of creation.[3] It would be easy to gloss over such a statistic by blaming it on the fact that half the bloggers are teenagers. Having the safety that a distance of 15 years provides, I can now admit that teenagers are predominately a transient bunch who are often tempted by new shiny objects. But in all honesty, most of my friends (many of whom are decades older than myself) do not have much more of an attention span than a fruit-fly neither. Of course, if you are one of my friends reading this, I don’t mean you (Ahem). And naturally I have been accused of not being able to stay on one track for more than the average length of a commercial- which since the advent of the Tivo, I rarely watch.
The gradual disintegration of Americans attention span has lead to a pervasive reluctance to read and write. Publishing industry statistics show that 58% of the US population never read another book after graduating from high school.[4] So, even if I had the fortitude to regularly add compelling content to my blog site-which has yet to be determined- it is hard to believe that there will be a large audience to read it. And therein lies the beauty of blogging. Blogs are completely malleable to the authors’ desires. While there are some who may desire subscription rates that surpass the 100, 000 mark, I am satisfied with an open and honest dialogue with any number of people- yes including all-by-myself. For me, an engaging dialogue with one person is just as intriguing as a dialogue with thousands (I have yet to come across a blog that has over 1000 active participants).
So here it is. My blog shall hence begin, and hopefully flourish. I will add content primarily that has a sociological value, although a reserve the right to add an occasional mundane post from time to time. I have often envied those who lived when political and philosophical discourse occurred over the course of lifetimes through letters mailed back and forth. The Federalist Papers, and letters written during the founding of our Nation inspire people to this day. The letters between the Apostles and their converted communities still touch the lives of millions. Today it seems we have a new opportunity. One which harnesses the power of-not the pen, but rather- the keyboard.
