Blogs tend to be full of short opinionated commentaries. The most popular ones for the most part are celebrity or politically based. Most notably these blogs all tend to exert a politically incorrect point of view, one you would never read on a CNN.com or MSNBC.com.
Some blogs have evolved far beyond just a blog. The # 2 most viewed blog, TMZ.com has just recently become a TV show, bringing a whole new audience to the blogosphere. Also the wildly eccentric Perez Hilton has made himself into a celebrity, having cameos through major TV shows and feature films all because of his tasteless gossip blog. Those two blogs specialize in celebrity gossip and rely on people like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan to screw up for their own material. They ave launched a new market for paparazzi photos, a place where photos can be posted on the net just seconds after they are taken.
Then there's the semi-more respectful blogosphere of political pundits. People who caral their opinions on campaigns and officials with the desire of being heard. One of the most noteable is the multi-millionaire Andrew Sullivan's blog. Where Andrew Sullivan, a once unknown reporter putts his spin on the political issues of the day. He has been given a platform he, an openly-gay republican, might otherwise not have had. Through this he has become one of the top blogers in the world, making weekly appearances on political shows on all the major stations and being highly courted by the republican presidential candidates.
While all of these blogs offer a new and fresh take on issues that otherwise would just be reported and left flat, only for op-ed and TV hosts to opine on, they can also damage the careers of those that keep them. The once American queen of nice Rosie O'Donell got into huge trouble with ABC TV after she posted a picture of her child on her blog dressed like a terrorist. ABC demanded that she take the photos off, as she was already in hot water over remarks she had made about 9/11. Shortly there after she was fired from ABC, but she would go onto her blog to sound off against the company and the cast. showing that TV was no longer the only outlet.
Again with these situations we see the negatives. Blogs give whack jobs who believe that 9/11 was a set up a venue to voice their damaging opinions. While it is truly an American right, it is also a truly tasteless path. These hate filled writers do no good with their blogs and only show a dark negative side of the Internet. Through this we have seen paparazzi photos increase in demand, making the sport of hunting celebrities all the more profitable and the dangers ever more present. To the smart and needed political opinions that can slip out of control. Either way one thing is for sure, the Internet sure has changed the way things are done, and blogs have forever changed the landscape of American media and life.
Bill Clinton wrote in his ingenious book Giving that when he first entered the White House there were only 55 website on the Internet, when he left there were 90 million, and now another 8 years later there is a countless number with new websites being created every day. A force that has never been seen before, and a force that would be difficult if not impossible to contain now. Blogs are in essence, in their simplest form, a way one connection for the key board to become a weapon to the curious. A hand to mouth system that is on a fast track towards the future and is revolutionizing everything it passes.
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1 comment:
This posting is a solid piece of blog writing. You maintain a focus on a specific topic and you combine information and opinion to provide a personal touch. There are a couple of things I'd like you to do to revise and improve.
First, give your posting a title. All blogs should have one. Next, run a spell check and proofread your copy a little tighter.
Finally, make those connections that the technology allows us to do with a blog. You mention several other bloggers. Link to them in your copy, providing the reader a tighter connection to the ideas that inspired your own. If you reference something from a blog, make that a hyperlink, too.
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