on blogs

Not long ago, somebody told me they quit reading blogs because they were all about oneself. I must admit that is what I enjoy about blogs. Anybody with an Internet connection can have a blog, can write about themselves, their passions, their ideas, their experiences. Blogs have democratized writing just like low cost airlines have democratized travelling.

Writers and travelers used to be romantic professions when they were activities not within the reach of everybody's pocket. Blogging about anything you like or reaching Mongolia has become possible for many people. Of course, this does not convert you into a writer or a traveler, just like taking a good picture does not make you a photographer -sometimes it is just a matter of luck- but it helps in feeling connected to others and in dismantling myths and prejudices. Being touched by the way Pessoa writes about restlessness is nearly compulsory, the marvelous thing is feeling moved by something a normal teenager wrote from home on their blog.

Blogs unlike the media on line do not try to be objective and that is the excellent characteristic about them. People write about their stories without pretending them to be universal nor objective and, in that non-intentional way of relating experiences, they become more universal and objective than the absolute truths that we are fed on the news everyday. Therefore when somebody argues that blogs are just about their author's ego, I think to myself that they're just about every one of us, about universal human emotions.