#30: the blogosphere

The ranks of bloggers are swelling exponentially. Two months ago I would have viewed this whole thing with a heavy dose of cynicism. Why? Are most bloggers really saying anything meaningful, or are they just adding to the cacophony of opinionated voices? Is this yet another manifestation of self-indulgent wind-bags? Do they add any value to a discussion or debate? I seriously doubt if my own blog passes that litmus test.
For now I have partly overcome (or effectively ignored) that hill of self-doubt. I say, well, if someone wants to share my thoughts, that's fine. If not, that's fine too. We are social beings and this is one way, albeit highly imperfect, of sharing and communicating ideas. At least I am not filling up inboxes with spam or unsolicited mail.

But part of that cynicism persists. Is anyone other than me reading this? Is this a delusion, or are my pseudo-thoughtful musings of any interest to anyone? And could I have used this time doing something else .... such as a dissertation (ahem)?

I am not soul-searching alone. The BBC admitted:

"Depending on your take, blogs are either a fantastic liberation, a self-indulgent waste of time, or a complete mystery .... If you believe the hype, blogs are as significant as the invention of the printing press for their ability to change the way the world will be seen. If on the other hand you believe the counter-hype, blogs are a self-indulgence which pander to dull people's misguided beliefs that they have something interesting to say".

The Washington Post added a twist to the blog phenomenon in this article.