Dave Winer, a blogger pioneer, writes in response to the question: what is a blog? In short: the unedited voice of a person.
In my younger days, I often said, “One of the things wrong with America (and there’s a heckuva lot right with America) is that people don’t have a place to tell their stories. I believe a blog is just that: a place for people to tell their stories in their own words, in their own style, through their own lens. Are they “right” or “wrong?” Doesn’t matter.
What matters is that people need to speak out, to share, to interact, and to tell it how they see it and feel it. If nothing else, blogging has fulfilled that need for many (not all) people.
That has to be the best blogging directive I’ve ever read. If only everyone in America could read (and share) that POV, it would probably be a better place. I’m always sad about the poor self-esteem and lack of communications that plague Americans, particularly those in inner cities and troubled youth. Having a place to share is just so valuable.
Time for bed … this humor writer is getting too deep ;)
Of course, the flip side is, everyone else has to listen and consider that POV… That’s something we really seem to be lacking these days– perspective.
The best part is that NO ONE has to listen. Click another link and go somewhere else. Blogging allows people to speak without *requiring* listening.
(if the blogger shouts in the woods, does the tree fall over silently?)