Thoughts from a Blogging Newbie

I'm fairly new to the blogging game. I did a "vlog" for a class last semester and I've had two blog entries published on the "Momaha.com" as a guest blogger. I follow a handful of blogs on a regular basis, maintained by reporters and writers I enjoy. I absolutely loved the movie, "Julie and Julia", and I like the concept of blogging about an experience or an issue. But the idea of actually writing a blog and having others read it is a bit daunting. Who would be interested in my opinion about anything?

The chapter on blogging in The Social Media Bible was both interesting and baffling. A lot of the terminology is still Greek to me. (What's a JavaScript widget? What are Feedburner counts?) But part of the reason I'm taking this class is to catch up with the technology and trends and examine how I might effectively use these tools in my work. At the very least, blogging could be way to improve my own writing. Many authors recommend daily blogging as a way to sharpen your skills.

I do have some reservations about the impact of blogging on news reporting. On page 139 of the Social Media Bible, the author says "Blogs create communication, and communication builds trust..." But blogs are now always trustworthy and it concerns me that many readers may substitute blogs for actual news reporting, forgetting that blogs are usually the writer's opinion. Readers need to maintain a healthy skepticism when reading anything in the blogosphere.