If there were enough flyers to match the number of bloggers, buildings would resemble birds instead of buildings. Because the flyers would look like feathers... Yeah, you get it. The point is, the internet is a public domain, so is the public library, the streets, parks etc. It is as dangerous posting private information on the internet as it is on a street corner. Also, if a blogger isn't solely after attention what is the point of a blog? To share opinions and information that may or may not interest other people?... Assuming that people will be interested at all is a gamble, so the real reason must be solely personal. A way to publish and examine day to day life and compare alongside other human beings. We're not interested in the interests of others, we're interested in the lives of others, which is a pretty scary thought. Facebook and Twitter take this to the extreme, providing real time updates and a hub for varying personalities.
To wrap up I'd like to point out that Blogs aren't as harmless as they seem. Compared to Facebook, yeah, they're alright, but to reiterate: The internet is a public domain. I'm not a paranoid freak, just a techno-realist.
It's an interesting perspective. Personally I have to heartily disagree. Firstly, most blogging is not merely an online journal of interests - there are certainly many personal diary-style blogs but the majority of blogs engage with actual topics of public interest (politics, sport, technology, business etc.). I think comparing blogging with Facebook is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Twitter and other nicroblogs are a bit different again, but still there's plenty more to it than people telling you what they had for breakfast. Also, it really matters if physical environments are littered with flyers but it doesn't matter if the Internet is awash with blogs because space is unlimited and no one is forced to look at all the mess (and there is plenty of mess in the blogosphere, I'll grant you that!) Thanks for a provocative post!
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