The Gains and Pains of Blogging

Ready. Set. Defend.

In our hostile world, one person's phrase or sentence can be taken out of context. Michael Berube's "Blogging Back at the Right" is an eerie example of how powerful but dangerous blogging can be; the more people it reaches, the higher chance of aggravating a reader. Berube learned the hard way when his "snippets of text [were] taken out of context and batted around the Internet like beach balls in football stadiums."

Unlike a newspaper, it allows the writer and reader to instantaneously duel through the confines of cyberspace (instead of waiting until the next issue). And Berube agrees that is one of the advantages to writing on the Internet; labeling his blog a "rapid-response device."

But blogs are way too formal! I agree with Berube when he says that, "[his] is also an outlet for all kinds of whimsical, satirical, and occasional writing--from musings on the paradoxical status of autonomy in disability-studies debates to parodies of contemporary political events and discussions of popular music and film..." Blogs are better suited to be the writer's own personal soapbox so he/she can speak about a variety of topics -- almost like an Op-Ed section in a newspaper; NOT the actual newspaper articles themselves!