Why blogger?

This is my third foray, I believe, into the world of blogging. My other blogs, however, have been a bit different. They have been a bit more personal, and entirely un-edited. This time I will attempt to make my posts a little more intelligible. I found setting up this blog really easy, probably because I have blogged many times before. Perhaps in the future I will attempt to learn all of the neat ways blogger has designed so I can make my blog interesting. The phrase "academic blogging" seems a little intimidating at first. After some thought, however, I have come to realize that it is simply a place to discuss my thoughts on more academic issues as opposed to talking about what I ate for breakfast or my trip on the bus.

Choosing which blogging service to use took me longer than setting up this blog. I was tempted to use livejournal, a service I have used before, but decided against it. It would be doing what I attempt to avoid; going with something safe and familiar in spite of its faults, and not exploring what else is out there. Many people, myself included, often choose brands that they grew up with, brands from their childhood that they know well. It makes me think of the reason many people eat at McDonalds. As I child, I would get McDonalds as a special treat, mostly for the wonderful Happy Meal. Those golden arches came to represent that childhood excitement that I'd want to keep going back to. Livejournal was my McDonalds of blogging; I knew exactly what to expect and exactly what I had to do.

That is exactly the reason why I chose blogger. During my extremely memorable first mass communications lecture, blogger was among the recommended services, and I was completely unfamiliar with it. I saw it as an excellent opportunity to learn how to use a new service, and expand my blogging horizons. I like to try new things, because regardless of whether or not I like them, I will have gained knowledge. I hope that in the future this blog will be both a place to post my thoughts on certain issues, and also a place to gain a new perspective. http://www.blogscanada.ca/ has this to say about blogs, "What the best individual blogs tend to have in common is voice -- they are clearly written by human beings with genuine human passion." While this is an exercise for a class, I hope this blog will also become a place to develop and share my passion for certain topics.


Until next time,

Laura Fixman