Blogging along with
twitter are two of the latest fads. So much so that my autocorrect doesn’t even
recognise the word “blogging”. These things are new right? New concepts and new
ways for us to share information that have completely revolutionised the world?
Pfffft. Hardly. These
are old old old. It is purely putting your thoughts out there into what is
known as the “public sphere”.
The public sphere is
“a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can
be formed”(Habermas et al 1964, p1). It is something that can be accessed by
everyone and is someone what of a conversation.
The real innovation of
a blog is that it’s easier for anyone to do it. The Internet has been booming
since the late nineties and anyway with a computer and half a brain had the
ability to create a website. Matter of fact I had my own web page when I was
about 12(I’m 20 now). Things take a while to catch on and now anyone can have a
blog and you don’t even have to be a functioning human being to share you
thoughts. Isn’t this a great world we live in.
All this said, its easier
than ever to get lost out there in the sea of information and rubbish, but I do
commend those who have managed to use these tools effectively and have a
positive impact on the life’s of others. J
Reference
Habermas J, Lennox S,
Lennox F, 1964, The Public Sphere: An Encyclopaedia Article, Germany, New
German Critique
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image from - http://hahafunnylol.com/post/26762916938/im-amazing-too#.UDItoNConoN
I like that you have a positive spin on this issue of anyone being able to have access to the public sphere as a platform for their thoughts and while I can’t deny that to be true in a lot of cases one of the big issues with the internet and Twitter and personal blogs is the inability to police all the information out there. There is just as much access for someone championing human rights as someone championing white supremacy.
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