To blog or not to blog- if there was a 21st century Hamlet this might be a plausible question. But for the moment lets just pretend that Hamlet is in the 21st century, and this time around instead of contemplating the very much universal questioning over what it means to live, he is now questioning the writing of his own blog. When questioning the writing of this supposed blog, Hamlet, being the negative person he is, would probably begin by looking heavily into the cons of blog writing. He may touch on the fact that to write a blog is to risk getting oneself into trouble with the law for slander and that in that sense blog writing limits the freedom of expression. He might also point out that even when you do write, if you have nothing worth writing about aside from what you had for breakfast, that it is just a bunch of nonsense. –This is where I would interrupt.
Though probably not to the same extent as Hamlet would have, I have myself contemplated for some time the creation of my own blog. Similar questions clouded my mind, and I decided that until I had discovered a truly worthy reason to write about, I would abstain from joining the growing blogger population. Thank God for my introduction into academic blogging. Now as I begin my academic blog, I know I will be provided with topics that are deliberately mind evoking and worthy of writing. I can now express to the rest of world meaningfulness that goes a step beyond my savoury cup of coffee. And the best part, this global outlet was only a few clicks away from existence. I was dumbstruck the moment I realized how easy it was to activate an account on Blogger: create a username and password, pick a template and then jazz it up with select style colours and fonts. In a matter of minutes, presto! My own blog!
So this is a wake up call to all of you modern day pessimistic Hamlets and other civilians who get intimidated - or simply pissed off- by blogs by the likes of Perez Hilton. Just remember that a blog you make is a blog you own. However, keep in mind that although you alone have the power to decide what to write, after you “send” that information, it is now the world’s to use. Intimidating- slightly- but the scale of how far a blog can potentially reach, well that’s the whole beauty of it.
