A blog concerning blogs.

The blogging phenomenon has given the ability for anyone to voice their opinions and view to a massive audience. Anyone with access to the internet is able to express themselves at an unprecedented level. Never, in the history of civilisation can one access the countless blogs available on the internet. But why have they become so important within our society? What is it that is so appealing to the masses? Freedom of expression is so highly regarded within the Western world and a blog is the most accessible platform in which a user can inform the reader through an alternative information source, away from that of mainstream control.

The rise of blogculture has been quite fast. Ten years ago the average person would most likely not know of what a blog is. Today, however the world has changed dramatically. Terrorism, war and politics are recurring themes in many blogs. They have become the perfect platform to access reliable and important information that the mainstream media may wish to sugar coat or completely disregard. The information contained in blogs may be that of personal opinion, but its alternative perspective can change you point of view on any topic.

If you did a blog search on the present Iraq war you would get an infinite amount of pages to choose from. After just doing a quick search then I found two blogs that contained information unlikely to find its way to the pages of the Herald Sun. The first blog told the touching personal story of two men’s 3 month attempt to travel from Iraq to Sweden to find a safe home. Only speaking Arabic, the two men travelled to Cambodia and Vietnam. They briefly considered the possibility of travelling to Sweden through Indonesia, but heard many Iraq refugees that took that path simply vanished. Demoralised and broke they were forced back to war-torn Iraq at a Vietnamese airport. The second blog discussed a study that an estimated 1 million Iraqis have died since the US-led invasion in 2003.

To me I feel that blogging has become an essential aspect in gaining reliable information. To rely on the sensationalistic, ethno-centric and bias mainstream media is unsettling. Blogs are not only used by extremists, radicals and conservatives, but a diverse range of people from the global community. Anybody can turn their whisper into a roar, and in exceptional circumstances can gain celebrity (PerezHilton).