Blogging misconceptions, let’s get rid of stereotypes!
Is blogging a lethal activity?
Maybe this post arrives a bit late, I have to admit I wanted to read the opinions of other people that are heavily involved with blogs. It all refers to a recent article by the New York Times that describes the blogging profession with pessimism and a stereotypical view. I am still new to blogging and do not do it professionally, but here is my 2 cents:
- Blogging is a way of expression that is partly playing the role of news, entertainment, you name it. There is millions of people worldwide blogging, some of them do it professionally. The view presented in the New York Times can only be described as myopic, simply because it is a warped vision of blogging as a concept.
- Even refering to blog in strictly professional terms, it is like any other profession. Working long hours is anyone’s choice. Lazy people work very little, workaholics work all the time except when they are sleeping. What is the difference to any other profession? Are there no reporters that go home just for sleep and then start next day all over again?
- Relating the blogging activity to deaths or health problems by not knowing a person, his/her habits, what other problems they might have in their daily life is very extreme and I think nobody can express such an opinion apart maybe from people very close to them. In other words it is a very private matter.
- Describing a professional blogger as kid locked in a room, typing away all day and sleeping on the keyboard is stereotypical, much like the view of a nerd in earlier decades. Maybe there is people that lead such a life, I do not know. But what I also know is that people involved with blogging in many cases have rich and rewarding professional lives, get involved in tech and non-tech activities, are shareholders in companies and start-ups and in general are normal active people. A person’s health can fail for a combination of reasons and is in my opinion the most usual case.
Whether publications will survive in their current form is debatable. I find the journalism of the New York Times exciting and high quality, but the specific article has disappointed me. I also feel that blogging is here to stay and its flexible nature, supported by modern tech, will unavoidable help it evolve and play an even larger role in the future. It encompasses people from all walks of life, so let’s leave stereotypes on the side and concentrate on creating the best content we can!
I will not say much more but refer you to the opinions of Om Malik of GigaOM and Ken Fisher of Arstechnica in the links that follow.
Link 1: Arstechnica
Link 2: GigaOM
