Is this thing on?

31 Jan 2012 2 Comments

by TimSmith in Uncategorized

I used to have an aversion to blogs. I’m a devoted forum user and have been for several years. Most of the time I would see someone posting a link to a politically biased blog and I would just frustrated. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but some people can’t distinguish an individual’s blog from a credible news source. I also used to see blogs as online journals, such as Live Journal, but I’m finding that there is a lot more too it for most people. Maybe the issue was always my perception of blogs. Like everything else in this world, there are good, bad, and many that fall somewhere in the middle. It seems to be that way with blogs as well.

(A little disjointed detail about me; until recently, I never saw myself as a writer. If you had asked me what I would be 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have an answer, but I can promise you that writer wasn’t on that list. I found this career by accident a few years ago, but it was probably one of the best things that could’ve happened to me.)

In more recent years, I have found a much more inviting use for them. I’ve been drawn in by the trip reports of Tipi Walter and the gear reviews of Stick. I’ve always been interested in hearing other people’s stories and about their experiences, and I also have a fascination for new camping gear. For some reason I have never had the drive to create one myself. So why do I like to read them but shy away from creating one? Perhaps I have doubts about my literary contributions to the world, or maybe I just haven’t done anything particularly interesting lately. I’ll get back to you on that when I figure it out. 

I definitely respect the scholarly community for taking up blogs and using them to convey their thoughts and ideas. I think blogs have really moved beyond the mindless posts by vain teenagers, and maybe we have Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace (is that even still active anymore?) to thank for that. It’s definately time for me to expand my horizons a bit and give blogging a chance.

Tim