Why blogging will (still) change the world
Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 12:50PM I remember ages ago talking about blogging to an older friend who said "Oh yes blogging - isn't that just people expressing their opinions?"
But opinions are ideas and ideas change the world. Whether it is the ideas contained in The Bible or in Mein Kampf, ideas are what shapes and defines the world as we experience it. Every idea has to start somewhere. Every idea has to first be thought and then be expressed.
With a blog you have more reason to think. Having an outlet for your ideas makes you take them more seriously. Even if you never publish the posts, taking your ideas seriously and thinking harder about them is a good thing.
If you write a half decent blog post you will make someone else think. You may make them think you are wrong or you may make them think you are right but you will make them think.
My previous post about hard men seems to have made people think judging by the comments. Imagine if that blog post had been on a blog on an organisations intranet? Imagine if it had been written by someone with status and influence inside the organisation - or even by someone no one had heard of. It would have made someone else think and maybe, even in a very small way, change their behaviour.
The world only ends up the way it does because people have ideas and express them. What's so wrong with us all having a go?
Why should we all use our creative power and write or paint or play music, or whatever it tells us to do? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold, and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money. Because the best way to know Truth or Beauty is to try to express it. And what is the purpose of existence Here or Yonder but to discover truth and beauty and express it, i.e, share it with others?
Brenda Ueland If You Want To Write 1938
Reader Comments (5)
Mentioned I had some comments.
http://www.psybertron.org/?p=3067
Imagine if that blog post had been on a blog on an organisations intranet? Imagine if it had been written by someone with status and influence inside the organisation - or even by someone no one had heard of. It would have made someone else think and maybe, even in a very small way, change their behaviour. Oh, no .. can't have that, can we ? Not on-message.
Exactly. And IMO why we should keep on blogging .. one of the last (not-so-controlled) places ... it'll only die when hard wankers, editors / gatekeeprs, and marketing / advertising take over (Andrew Keen's world?).
Euan, Excellent! Funny reading a few of these posts (some from Stowe too and looking at my own) recently has made me think.... is time to remind ourselves that blogging is more powerful than ever. It warrants a revival in discussion. Its changed and it is a lot the same. More importantly I believe Twitter has actually made blogging more infectious. We can make if more so.... and we just need to tweak it a little. Keep going!
BTW... your security type arguments were a good example. Finally two weeks later it hits the papers. Not much has changed from the old days... the thinking still comes before Twitter.
Cheers
Stuart
Yeah I read your own blog post Stuart and agree the combination of Twitter and blogging enhances both. Comment tracking still a pain in the are though!
Blogging is not just about saying your piece, it is also about going out and joining the conversation where it is happening. It’s about reaching out to people and exposing yourself (steady!) to new ideas. Some giving as well as all this taking back we focus on.