Tara's Blog

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Blogging Backlash

Michael Berube: professor, author, liberal, blogger. All of these terms are correct in describing the Professor of Literature at Penn State . After reading about his experience with blogging and the controversy that arose in the article Blogging Back at the Right, I've come to realize just how public this form of expression really is.

Freedom of expression is something that is highly valued in this country, thus you cannot prevent someone from doing so. However with the advent of blogs there is a more expedient way to express your opinions in response to how someone else feels. Unfortunately there is also the increase in the misunderstanding and misinterpreting of information and opinions to go along with it.

The internet is a very public form of expression, one that is not for the faint of heart. A thick skin is required for those of us who use it to express ourselves freely. Has my opinion of blogging changed now that I have been faced with a specific encounter of public debate in this form; not particularly. The only real difference to this form of expression is the fact that it is more instantaneous than that of debate in print media.

Just as with any other form of personal opinion expression, there are advantages and disadvangtages. The advantages include the almost instantaneous availability of your opinion to others. A disadvantage: misinterpretation is immediate as well. The differences in publishing an opinion in a blog as opposed to say The Mirror is simply the fact that it is incredibly quick.

Inevitably by expressing your opinion in a blog, you're going to annoy someone. It's something that as an author you have to be prepared to experience.

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