In Contradiction, Freedom

As jo(e) notes in "Blogging as an Emerging Genre," a blog offers the potential for "a text with multiple voices," less constrained by a single format of writing and open to everyone. In the responses to jo(e)'s post, numerous words (many contradictory) in relation to the concept of blogging caught my attention: "broader," vs. "trivial," "superficial by its instant, easy access." Individuals' purposes in blogging also differed: "the blog is this kind of spastic release of energy for me" vs. "I write blog posts because if I don't write...a part of me is not allowed to breathe, to live, to find voice." I think these various responses demonstrate the fact that blogging, and online communication in general, is a democratic medium through which all and any purposes can be served, from the trivial to the deeply profound and personal. 

That said, it is fascinating to consider the effect that such a versatile and habitable medium has on our lives. When reading Laurie McNeill's article I was struck by her statement that "the Internet further seems to break down the division of textual and lived lives and selves," (40) and, on a related note, she suggests that one "begins to live [one's] life like a story" (42). The fact that one can so readily document one's life in an online medium and have one's thoughts and feelings read and responded to by so many others does in fact suggest that the self can be present in and transformed via cyberspace. When "real space" and "cyberspace" begin to overlap in the sense of mutually defining one another's existence, it becomes difficult to determine which is which, or which one has the greater authenticity.