Today I was assigned to read the chapter "The Blogs in Society," which is extracted from Aaron Barlow's book Blogging America. In this chapter Barlow speaks about the negative depictions of blogging on the Internet. As we all know by now, almost anyone with Internet access can begin blogging whatever they want and whenever they want. This means that bloggers can be defined as authors of their own work and that they allow others to view the work that hey have made. Barlow states that bloggers tend to create lies, rumors, and make errors within their blogs. He states, "Without editors, administrators, or regulators to monitor what is being posted, we have no one to vouch for the reliability or credibility of the content we read and see."(p. 36) This is very important because readers have no idea if an author's specific story is credible or truthful. It may tend to make the viewers believe something that is not actually true. These bloggers may do this accidentally or intentionally. Another negative aspect of blogging that Barlow speaks about occurs within the area of threats. Bloggers who tend to voice opinions on certain topics may attract people who oppose their thoughts. These viewers comment on their blogs in hurtful threats that may negatively affect the blogger in various ways. Although the viewers who oppose the blog may not want to actually hurt the blogger, they are mainly getting their point across that they totally disagree with what the blogger has to say.
I believe that the negative depictions of blogging in which Barlow states is the most important part of this chapter. I totally agree that without an administrator, the information is not credible. If a user follows the rules, makes no mistakes, correctly cites, and doesn't make false stories for the sole purpose of entertainment, then blogging can be credible.
Barlow, Aaron. Blogging America. (2008). The Blogs in Society (Chapter 2).
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