VoiceBox.

visual blogs.

I somewhat agree with the article written by Meredith Badger. I agree that people "scan" the internet. Rarely do I read pages thoroughly when I'm doing a Google search. When I'm reading blogs, however, I do take the time to read very carefully. So instead of making the general assumption that everybody scans everything online, she should have been more specific. Maybe, in general, people do scan more often than not and I'm just ignorant to that fact since I've been a blogger for 5 years…I’ve trained myself to read more carefully while visiting certain sites. I do agree with this quote:

“Weblogs occupy a dichotomous position. They wish to stand out and present an individual voice, but they also want to fit into the genre of weblogs - to be instantly recognisable as being part of a community. Weblogs, as Torill Mortensen and Jill Walker observe, are forever hovering on the border between public and private. “

I have been a diarist of Free Open Diary for about 5 years now. Over time, I’ve come to accumulate favorite readers. Those being, people who have my diary in their list of favorites, visit often, and comment often. One diarist, whose nickname is Mindsetofajohn, keeps his identity completely secret. Nobody really knows who he is. He blogs about, to be blunt, his experiences with sex and prostitution. He writes in a way that is very informative and professional, so it’s not just some trashy diary. (The tangent about his diary stops here.)

Badger raises a point that I never really took much time to notice or think about. She says pictures on blogs give the readers insight to the author. I completely agree. I have two pictures on my diary of myself (that sometimes don’t show up…yay). I posted them there so my readers can get a feel for who they’re reading about. Granted, the content of the blog should not be based on what the author looks like. I’m sure if I posted some pictures of a hideously ugly old man on my front page there are some people who would be clicking their back button faster than you can say, “ew!”

Later on, Badger goes on to argue the validity of blogs. We have to come to realize the internet is far from a perfect place. I’ve begun to notice that more as I’m growing up. I used to trust the internet for all my research, until I realized just how scandalous the internet can be. Nothing in life is perfect, so why do people think the internet is? Perhaps because it’s displayed on some wonderful technologically advanced miracle machine; also known as the computer. Our lives are so centered around computers that I think we’ve all gained a false sense of security. Computers have viruses and Trojans and errors all the time. Just use some common sense here people. Not everything you read or see is true!