The creation of the World Wide Web had created an entirely different function than what its inventors originally had in mind. The internet and World Wide Web had essentially become a forum for political discussion, and subsequently, its dissemination of that information. What resonated with me in the reading assigned for Monday is how the internet provides a pathway for voices to be heard. Politics is everywhere - from advertisements, newspapers, in the streets, and even in sports. The political arena is inherently a part of human discourse, and the internet has served as an alternate channel for this particular art to carry on.
I remember when I first created my own blog back in middle school. Yes, it was on Xanga. The main reason I created a Xanga was because everyone to my left and my right had one. I was riding on a giant bandwagon full of people who blogged about every single minute detail of their everyday life. I must admit, the fad was great while it lasted. I would spend countless hours designing the website (my first real experience with HTML). For the background, the most recent frequently played song on my Winamp could be heard, while a tacky anime (Naruto) wallpaper could be seen.
Blogging became more of a hobby than anything else. Whenever I needed to get something off my chest, or write about something that nobody else would understand except myself, blogging served as a pastime that I would engage in when I was not preoccupied with playing video games or doing homework. However, the underlying reason why I used the blogger was mainly because of social reasons - to stay connected with friends, and to partake in a contemporary phenomenon. There were no politics involved - just plain old terrible 7th grade prepubescent immaturity.
After a while, activity on the website died down. Xanga, though still around today, is not nearly as popular as it used to be. My friends stopped blogging, and I followed suit. I cannot really explain why or recall when I completely abstained from visiting the website, but it was a gradual decline. I did not even notice that I stopped blogging because I had moved on from the website and life in general. After the website went through a remodeling, the Xanga team sent me an email notifying me of those changes. My wallpaper and background music were gone, some of my posts were not archived, and the general sentiment was that of visiting a place that used to bear so much significance to me. I did not feel that Xanga and I were compatible anymore. Xanga had its time in my life and the foreign feeling that I felt when revisiting it for the first time in ages led me to delete my account.
The function of blogging websites, in my opinion, has shifted from that of a social-networking purpose to one that is purely political. With the onset of more blogging websites such as Blogger.com, and Wordpress, Xanga became obsolete. Even sites that are now considered major sources of political news use the traditional blog format (see The Huffington Post, Perez Hilton, etc). Tie that reason in with some social-networking websites called MySpace, Sconex (now teen.com), and the site that we cannot take our eyes off of (Facebook), and we now see how traffic has been vacuumed from one site and emptied onto another.
I think blogs and bloggers are credible sources of information. With the news both online and on TV filtered at the least, I feel that bloggers offer a fresh, somewhat partisan perspective on the issues that matter most to us. For example, when I first watched KONY 2012, I admit that I had the normal reaction that most people would have, which was a sympathetic one. Although the film was well made, I did feel in the back of my mind that it was a little too good to be true. After reading sensational blog posts made by others, I got to analyze some of the criticisms of the film, which led to my quick dismissal of the agenda set by the people at Invisible Children.
Social media is a powerful force, and when set to good use can be used to influence the masses. Those who are invisible and do not have as much notoriety as others are able to be democratic - to have a voice that otherwise would not be heard on any other medium. With the right amount of support, the Joe/Jane Einstein's of the world can have their claims amplified to shape public opinion.
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