I honestly don't know how I would cope without google. Everytime I think of a question that I would like an answer to, I simply type my question into google, and BAM! There isn't just one answer, there is millions of answers, millions of perspectives, and insight into millions of different peoples minds on my chosesn subject within seconds. How do you beat that? I don't think that you can. So my chosen topic today for google, was, blogging. You see I have been at JoeUser for about two years now. On and off, and before I joined this site, I had never heard of blogging. Blogging was just catching on, and moving from being about just online diaries, to something a little more. I remember in my early days at JU I wrote a similar blog, about blogging becoming the new jounalism. A way for people to voice their opinions, in an open way, without the media ripping it to pieces and turning it inside out, and making it something for their own devices, to make them more popular, and to basically make money. Blogging has an innocence about it. Because anyone could be writing it, and it is about what they think, and what they believe, and how they see things, and it comes straight from the heart. Their blog site is exactly that, theirs. With a blog comes a community, people that read your blog, people that comment. They encourage you, and they tell you if they think you are wrong. They encourage debate, they give you support, and to me, that is just as important, as to what you actually put in your blog.
So on my search of blogs, and blogging, and whatever else. I found some descriptions of blogging sites, and how they vary from diaries, to specialising in certain subjects, to blogs people are paid for, social, cultural, topical, business, and so the list goes on. All these websites are more than happy to talk about this aspect of blogging, and the journalistic side, and how blooging has become popular for the individual. How getting your ideas and thoughts out there in a blog is positive, and how you can put your own spin on news stories. You are able to say the things that sometimes the media are afraid to say. Reading a blog is reading pure human emotion, and honesty, from someone elses perspective. Now after a while at JU, I went and looked at other blog sites. They offer you a place to write your thoughts and opinions, and it is the same as what goes on here, or is it? At times I have felt a little out of place at JU. Not because of the behaviour of anyone here, but just due to the fact that many American topics are dealt with on this site, and sometimes I'm not exactly up-todate with events. Also I would guess that most of the regular bloggers here, are a little older than me. So I went looking for a site that maybe had a younger feel to it, and maybe that I would 'fit' in better. I looked, and I posted several places, and it was alright, I suppose. However, I never really found anything that kept my interest for a long period of time. So I started to think that it was just me, and maybe blogging is something I just shouldn't do.
You see I have never been great in online communities as a whole. I get lost on forums. I find it difficult to read a comment or a brief paragraph regarding a topic, and then look through the 500 responses, and keep my interest up. I find it's a little like people whispering something to each other, that the further it goes on, the less sense it makes. Till it reaches its conclusion, and you have no idea what the original comment was. I don't see the point of that. I know some people enjoy that, and each to their own. That's just me. So after a long think, and missing blogging for a while, I returned to JU. Not that I ever really left, I was still about, just not like I was before. You see I know the thing that makes JU different, and I'm sure every one of you that logs on to JU everyday also knows. It's the community spirit. It's the kindness of people who are at first strangers, but as you read more and more about them, they somehow become a long distance friend, that is kind enough to give you a window into their thoughts, and feelings, and opinoins, even their life. You can't find that anywhere else. Not like JU, it sort of feels like home.
Now I haven't really entered fully into the community spirit of JU. I don't know why that is, I just seem to be out of the loop a little bit. Which is fair enough, as I wasn't here a great deal, and sometimes I get the feeling I don't come across as completely likable in my blogs. That's a different story though. I have, however, observed the JU community, and the ups and downs that go with being involved in a community. There are people here who are part of the furniture. Who are always here, and who are consistant in what they post, and their contribution as a whole. There are people that irritate others, or who go out of their way to say things that will annoy people and get a reaction. There will be people that leave, and return. There will be people that just leave, and there will be new people that will take their places. It's just like any other place in that respect. There are those that are passionate about things, and those that are equally passionate that they are wrong. There are people who will show you their soul, and their fears, and this will be the only place that they feel that they can express themselves. There will be people here who will offer them support, advice, even just a few kind words, can work wonders. Some people just want to be acknowledged. You get that here. You get the ability to share your thoughts, and opinions, and for people to share them with you. I have read blogs that have made me laugh, some of had me close to tears, and others have just wound me up. That's what it's about though. These people that have written about blogging have missed that though. If you take the time to read blogs, and to respond to people, it isn't just about the blogging, it is about the community. Lets not let blogging become like what so many other things do, when they reach the masses, and become extremely popular, remember the human side of blogging, and the individual that is sat at their computer pouring their heart out to you. In my opinion, that's what blogging is all about.