Overall Reaction

While blogs seem like a great way to disseminate information, as with any online source there are some potential pitfalls and risks. As with many on line sources of communication and information, the validity of what is posted can be questionable. Even without corroboration, a blogger can feel free to post anything they want, and a reader may not be savvy enough to understand that the information is not entirely accurate. Even if the information in a blog is completely true, the blogger can spin the story anyway they choose; omitting information, quoting out of context, or using misleading wording to tell the story as they see it. Of course, this sort of spin happens in "legitimate" news, so as with any source the reader should know about a blogger and their political leanings. This leads to another pitfall, that of the relative anonymity of bloggers on the Internet. Because there is no face to face interaction between the blogger and the audience, and there is no accountability to an editor or editorial board, a blogger can represent themselves to be anything they desire. Another problem with blogs has more to do with the blogger themselves as opposed to their blogs. Because blogs allow for a free exchange of opinions, vise a vie the comment feature, a blogger opens themselves up to flaming, hostility, and out and out harassment. One young woman who blogs about technology found herself the target of rather aggressive commentaries, and even expressed a fear for her personal safety.

Even with all of these pitfalls, for both the reader and the blogger, I think that the advantages outweigh the risks. Blogs have opened up a whole new forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions between people all over the globe. Blogs can offer us the opportunity to interact with people whom we would never have the chance to meet otherwise. Blogs allow writers the chance to be read by a wide audience; a chance they never would have gotten previously without a publisher. We can keep track of far flung relatives and friends, and make new ones at the same time. In essence, blogs have made the world a little smaller, and in these uncertain times when so many people can seem like the enemy, we can all use the feeling of family that the blogosphere offers.