All throughout my Writing for the Internet class, we have been talking about blogs as a new form of literature. Seems like we weren't the only ones. Steve Himmer wrote The Labyrinth Unbound: Weblogs as Literature about how the increasingly popular weblog is changing literature today.
Weblogs are highly unique. They are part journal, part news source, part serious, and part humorous. They can be anything the creator decides, from something completely funny and random to a serious topic. Weblogs provide a freedom that other forms of literature do not. The writer can encompass as many topics and feelings as she wants. Unlike a novel, there isn't one set story, one plot, or one group of characters. A blog entry can be about fish one day and AIDS the next.
Some, who believe that weblogs are not a new form of literature, have questioned the believability of blogs. Are the sources accurate? Did that actually happen? Are the figures correct? Yet, that doesn't always matter. The weblog tells a good story, something exciting and different that people enjoy reading. Whether the blogger actually went to Botswana and lived in a tribal hut isn't as important as the story she is telling. As long as she presents her blog in an interesting manner, the readers are happy.
Another aspect of the weblog is the fact that it is never actually finished. As Himmer states, "there is always the possibility of an additional post to come." Unless the author actually tells everyone "This is the end", readers never know when they will get another installment of their favorite story. The blog is always being added to, and the story is being increased and expanded upon. Unlike novels, which has a definitive ending, blogs can be added and changed. In other forms of literature, this is impossible.
Weblogs are emerging as a new form of literature. They are unlike any other printed text out there. Weblogs give both authors and readers a freedom that they previously did not have with other literature.