Online Idea Repository

Q1. “Blogging is merely a self-indulgent exercise and serves no real purpose.” Discuss.

Ever since the beginning of civilisation, human beings have been busy with the affairs of the world: acquiring the knowledge required for survival, conquering new lands for colonisation, exploring the vast variety of intellect and garnering knowledge, ideas and organising all these information into wisdom. Over many centuries, these processes have slowly evolved and have been gradually refined to suit our ever-changing lifestyles, for it cannot be denied that our lifestyles have indeed changed since the last centuries: From war, strife and uncertainty, we have entered into a time of peace and prosperity, with a new generation of people who have not seen the atrocities of war that their forefathers faced, nor are they leading the lives full of fear for their loved ones’ safety. Indeed, people today are becoming increasingly ignorant of the world’s affairs.

This ignorance cannot be allowed to continue to permeate the minds of our young. There has to be a method to solve this pressing problem. For the leaders of tomorrow shall be these young people: these same people who are now succumbing to their own myopic, selfish acts of self-indulgence. In this world of mass consumerism and materialism brought forth by globalisation, increasing numbers of people are subscribing to the “ideal” lifestyles depicted by all those celebrities in the media and advertisements that they are fast losing the focus in life that is so vital to the survival of humans as a species.

While many people continue to wallow in self-indulgence, the Internet came along and it caused a phenomenal change in the way we view our world. The Internet has revolutionised the way we receive and interact with information. We are no longer dumb receivers of information, but have the ability or choice to make our own stands on the issues of the world.

How then are the above related to blogging? The link is evident in many ways. Blogging is the service which allows people to post their thoughts and ideas on the Internet, for the people of the literate world to see. It can be viewed as the child of web page technology which shares the attributes of a blog but has a key difference: the hassle of owning or subscribing to a web hosting service. Blogs remove the hassles of paid web hosting services and are often faster and more user-friendly.

Take, for example, “Blogger.com”. This blog hosting giant hosts millions of accounts worldwide, with users representing the United States, China, Australia, India, South-East Asia and Singapore. The blogs found here are mostly personal ones which many youths or students use to publish their own ideas or journals. This is not a self-indulgent exercise, as most might argue, as blogs allow these people to voice their opinions without endangering their reputation offline. Abuses aside, this allows a more liberal playground for people to express themselves and their ideas to be presented to a global audience. Besides, the freedom of expression to a comparatively wider audience would unwittingly shape the way most of the authors of these blogs write and the content featured, thus minimising offensive or self-indulgent material.

Relating back to the first paragraph, the creation of blogs allow the experiences of people today to be entombed in the virtual world of the Internet through a feature that most would overlook in blogs: the archive. Most blogs have such a feature that automatically stores past entries which can be recalled at a click of the mouse. Such a feature solves the problem of “amnesia” in which people forget the purpose of a blog and the experiences of their authors. The people of the future may stumble upon a blog of the present which records the happenings of the world today. This should not be dismissed as trivial, for the decisions of tomorrow are based on the lessons of yesterday.

More importantly, the presence of political or organisational blogs cannot be overlooked. These blogs wield much power in the online community as they often publish news about the world today more quickly than some news agencies. Without the restriction of having to report to superiors and “bureaucratic red-tape” faced by reporters, the people behind these blogs can be anyone, anywhere. Though some might argue that the quality and style, as well as the perception of these authors might be flawed or unprofessional, yet others might feel more willing to believe in these authors who are volunteers working to fulfil their passion of serving the community rather than their counterparts in BBC or CNN who might write anything to save their careers. In short, the community-driven blogs offer information that many find credible and, combined with the ability of instant user feedback, puts power in the hands of its readers to influence their community.

Perhaps the real reason behind the assertion that blogging is merely a self-indulgent exercise and serves no real purpose might be due to the presence of personal blogs which merely act as journals which are aesthetically pleasing and technically sophisticated but only serve to present the self. It depends on the individual user to decide whether such a blog can be considered as a true blog. Blogging encompasses the aspects of community sharing, online interaction and the exchange of ideas, all on a global stage. Can these aspects be similarly applied to blogs that are completely self-indulgent? I think not, for the function of communal interactivity invalidates the self-indulgent property of the conventional online journal and perhaps would unwittingly transform the self-indulgent author to become a person more concerned with the affairs of the world. Blogging then ceases to be merely a self-indulgent exercise, but rather, it becomes a life-changing experience.

In conclusion, blogging is not merely a self-indulgent exercise, but serves many purposes. It is a tool to preserve our history and heritage, a weapon for the ordinary citizen against the giants of the mass media, and a life-changing experience for those involved. Communities and societies are held together by people’s perception of each other, and blogs are the medium through which people communicate online today. As the Internet permeates the rest of the developing world, the influence of blogs will only increase and might one day be the global standard for information and news for the world.

(1041 words)

Written by loongye
04S9A

C: 18/30
L: 13/20
T: 31/50