Monday, September 28, 2009
Very Rough Draft of our First Research Essay
Guelda 1
Stephen Guelda
ENGL 105-07
Mr. Leake
27 September 2009
Literacy and the Internet
Once there was a time where people had to walk ten miles to a library, search through rows upon rows of note cards in a card catalogue, and then drudge through page after page of a book just so they could get a little bit on information for a research paper. Things have definitely changed since those days. Now people just have to walk out of his or her room, walk down the hall, and sit down in their more often than not comfy computer chair and double click on a little button. The internet brings the whole world to people as long as they have a computer and an internet connection which nowadays is very rare for people not to have in the United States. The information age and the internet have allowed for people to access all the information they could ever need or want easily and efficiently. However, many people are wary of this change and wonder if the internet and everything it offers are really helping us as much as it seems. Or is the reverse happening to us? By having access to anything and everything are we losing the ability to read and write as effectively as we once did? Are we using the internet in a way where we are slowly becoming less literate or are we just changing the way we read and write? The internet is changing us and the way we do things.
There are many naysayers against the use of the internet and the technology we have available to us. Many people can speak of personal experience from where they have noticed a change in their reading and writing habits since the internet started getting popular. Since the
Guelda 2
internet has shown up people like Nicholas Carr mention on how their concentration lasts a fraction of the time that it used to. Because everything on the internet is so fast paced and action packed, some people’s reading skills have taken such a toll that long essays and novels have become bothersome to read. Everyone from the average person to literature majors is having difficulty. The internet is not just affecting those who are on the lower end of the spectrum. Some people like Chris Hedge’s will even go so far as to say that our society is taking a turn for the worse because he believes our literacy problem is getting so bad that we are becoming an illiterate mob of unintelligent zombies that can be controlled by those in power. He mentions also how the internet is affecting things such as newspapers as the internet writers are taking their place. He criticizes all the changes that are happening to our society and is blaming the internet as one of the many causes of this. However, much of the support he uses is not supported by scientific studies or proof at all. He makes some good points, but those points alone are not enough to prove anything about technology affecting our literacy.
While Hedges makes some good points in his article, he has little proof of anything. However, Nicholas Carr provides many examples as to possibly how and why we are changing. He mentions studies from University College London that show people hardly ever read full articles or entries on the internet. He points out that we may read more today than we ever have, but the type of reading and writing that we are doing is changing from the time before the internet was around. Carr also quotes other scholars who say that we aren’t just changing the way we read and write, but also we are changing the way we think. Our mind is literally changing with the internet constantly bombarding us with information and ads and everything else. One scholar Carr quotes, Maryanne Wolf, explains that writing and reading are not natural
Guelda 3
processes for people, so if we do not practice them or practice them in a different way or mind will actually shift to accommodate the changes. While this is not necessarily going to turn us illiterate, these critics point out that there are going to be some massive changes besides the ones that have already been popping up because of this new information age. Some of them are against it completely while others are just suggesting we be careful since we are going into a new age.
However, there are some people who think that the critics are just being a little bit too paranoid. Even Carr who is wary of the changes of the internet says that he might be acting a little paranoid. He says that like many changes in the world that are extremely changing, the internet may change some things but will ultimately help us in the long run. Clive Thompson explains in an article how we are not becoming illiterate; we are in the midst of a literary revolution. Things are changing completely. Ideals and opinions are being turned upside down as the world is changing. His article goes on to explain how people are writing so much more now than they ever did. Not only that, the arena in which we are writing is completely different. People used to always write to teachers for assignments and that was pretty much it. Nowadays people write for classes, but also they write a significant amount for things other than classes with things such as social networking through Facebook and MySpace. Also because of this his article explains how we have a much better sense of the audience we are writing for than the generations before us. We can write a lot of different styles from completely formal academic texts to the other end of the spectrum where we exclude half the letters in chatting and texting. Also many people think that texting is degrading to academic writing. Thompson cites research by Andrea Lunsford to disprove many myths about new technology hurting young writers and
Guelda 4
readers. She studied thousands of pieces of work from students at Stanford University and in all the academic writings she studied she did not find any text language in them. Students today can know when they need to write formally and when it is acceptable to use informal things such as texting abbreviations and emoticons. Also in an article by Tara Brabazon, Brabazon explains how technology is treated as something new to the classroom when at one time every technique and tool was new. She says that we have to fully integrate the technology into our school and other systems and make sure that we are using it right.
Anything can be detrimental to peoples or societies if they are overused or used wrongly. The internet is no exception to this rule. It brings to mind when people use the saying, “everything in moderation.” We need to find a balance between the use of our technology and the limiting of all the new technologies; we can not become mindless addicts to the web. So I think the question is not whether there are going to be change because it is pretty obvious that there are going to be many changes, but rather what are we going to do with all these changes. If we are able to find ways to integrate all the technology into our society in a useful manner that limits the amount of detrimental side effects we will be able to realize new things and explore uncharted waters to unlock many new technologies, ideals, and other positive things. Technology is not something that will inherently cripple our abilities. It is only if we let it control and degrade us that it will destroy what we value as literacy today. Technology can be used either as a tool to further what we already have or to replace what we have. Of course everything is not perfect and has its advantages and disadvantages and this is no different. The internet is changing the way we do things significantly in all aspects of our life.
Stephen Guelda
ENGL 105-07
Mr. Leake
27 September 2009
Literacy and the Internet
Once there was a time where people had to walk ten miles to a library, search through rows upon rows of note cards in a card catalogue, and then drudge through page after page of a book just so they could get a little bit on information for a research paper. Things have definitely changed since those days. Now people just have to walk out of his or her room, walk down the hall, and sit down in their more often than not comfy computer chair and double click on a little button. The internet brings the whole world to people as long as they have a computer and an internet connection which nowadays is very rare for people not to have in the United States. The information age and the internet have allowed for people to access all the information they could ever need or want easily and efficiently. However, many people are wary of this change and wonder if the internet and everything it offers are really helping us as much as it seems. Or is the reverse happening to us? By having access to anything and everything are we losing the ability to read and write as effectively as we once did? Are we using the internet in a way where we are slowly becoming less literate or are we just changing the way we read and write? The internet is changing us and the way we do things.
There are many naysayers against the use of the internet and the technology we have available to us. Many people can speak of personal experience from where they have noticed a change in their reading and writing habits since the internet started getting popular. Since the
Guelda 2
internet has shown up people like Nicholas Carr mention on how their concentration lasts a fraction of the time that it used to. Because everything on the internet is so fast paced and action packed, some people’s reading skills have taken such a toll that long essays and novels have become bothersome to read. Everyone from the average person to literature majors is having difficulty. The internet is not just affecting those who are on the lower end of the spectrum. Some people like Chris Hedge’s will even go so far as to say that our society is taking a turn for the worse because he believes our literacy problem is getting so bad that we are becoming an illiterate mob of unintelligent zombies that can be controlled by those in power. He mentions also how the internet is affecting things such as newspapers as the internet writers are taking their place. He criticizes all the changes that are happening to our society and is blaming the internet as one of the many causes of this. However, much of the support he uses is not supported by scientific studies or proof at all. He makes some good points, but those points alone are not enough to prove anything about technology affecting our literacy.
While Hedges makes some good points in his article, he has little proof of anything. However, Nicholas Carr provides many examples as to possibly how and why we are changing. He mentions studies from University College London that show people hardly ever read full articles or entries on the internet. He points out that we may read more today than we ever have, but the type of reading and writing that we are doing is changing from the time before the internet was around. Carr also quotes other scholars who say that we aren’t just changing the way we read and write, but also we are changing the way we think. Our mind is literally changing with the internet constantly bombarding us with information and ads and everything else. One scholar Carr quotes, Maryanne Wolf, explains that writing and reading are not natural
Guelda 3
processes for people, so if we do not practice them or practice them in a different way or mind will actually shift to accommodate the changes. While this is not necessarily going to turn us illiterate, these critics point out that there are going to be some massive changes besides the ones that have already been popping up because of this new information age. Some of them are against it completely while others are just suggesting we be careful since we are going into a new age.
However, there are some people who think that the critics are just being a little bit too paranoid. Even Carr who is wary of the changes of the internet says that he might be acting a little paranoid. He says that like many changes in the world that are extremely changing, the internet may change some things but will ultimately help us in the long run. Clive Thompson explains in an article how we are not becoming illiterate; we are in the midst of a literary revolution. Things are changing completely. Ideals and opinions are being turned upside down as the world is changing. His article goes on to explain how people are writing so much more now than they ever did. Not only that, the arena in which we are writing is completely different. People used to always write to teachers for assignments and that was pretty much it. Nowadays people write for classes, but also they write a significant amount for things other than classes with things such as social networking through Facebook and MySpace. Also because of this his article explains how we have a much better sense of the audience we are writing for than the generations before us. We can write a lot of different styles from completely formal academic texts to the other end of the spectrum where we exclude half the letters in chatting and texting. Also many people think that texting is degrading to academic writing. Thompson cites research by Andrea Lunsford to disprove many myths about new technology hurting young writers and
Guelda 4
readers. She studied thousands of pieces of work from students at Stanford University and in all the academic writings she studied she did not find any text language in them. Students today can know when they need to write formally and when it is acceptable to use informal things such as texting abbreviations and emoticons. Also in an article by Tara Brabazon, Brabazon explains how technology is treated as something new to the classroom when at one time every technique and tool was new. She says that we have to fully integrate the technology into our school and other systems and make sure that we are using it right.
Anything can be detrimental to peoples or societies if they are overused or used wrongly. The internet is no exception to this rule. It brings to mind when people use the saying, “everything in moderation.” We need to find a balance between the use of our technology and the limiting of all the new technologies; we can not become mindless addicts to the web. So I think the question is not whether there are going to be change because it is pretty obvious that there are going to be many changes, but rather what are we going to do with all these changes. If we are able to find ways to integrate all the technology into our society in a useful manner that limits the amount of detrimental side effects we will be able to realize new things and explore uncharted waters to unlock many new technologies, ideals, and other positive things. Technology is not something that will inherently cripple our abilities. It is only if we let it control and degrade us that it will destroy what we value as literacy today. Technology can be used either as a tool to further what we already have or to replace what we have. Of course everything is not perfect and has its advantages and disadvantages and this is no different. The internet is changing the way we do things significantly in all aspects of our life.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The New View
This is the last of our first nine posts. It is crazy to think that we are already this far in the class. It does not feel like we have been through half a class, but when I stop and think back I can really start to see how much we have really done. As I look back to the many blog posts and readings we have done for class I start to think about the experience. Writing the blog posts was definitely different than the typical English writing assignment that I am used to. I can see where Sullivan comes from when he says it is a more free form of writing. It was still for a class, but I felt like it was more personal than a regular writing assignment. I was writing for my very own personal blog who no one else has. Everyone saw my work too. It was not just for the teacher with the evil red pen. Everyone in the class saw what I thought and felt about the different topics. I agree with Sullivan on a lot of his points now. I also liked the topics that we covered and found them interesting. The whole experience was very different but very cool at the same time.
As far as changing my internet habits, I don't know if I will be maintaining my own blog after the class, but it definitely has caused me to look at my internet habits more. I do not really think I will change that much. However, I think I understand why I do things more and the whole experience could possibly help me later with different things.
As far as changing my internet habits, I don't know if I will be maintaining my own blog after the class, but it definitely has caused me to look at my internet habits more. I do not really think I will change that much. However, I think I understand why I do things more and the whole experience could possibly help me later with different things.
Friday, September 25, 2009
More Hyperlink Practice
Here is another article talking about how the internet is destroying our literacy. I think this will help with my paper where I am planning on getting into more depth on the subject.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Bad Days for Newsrooms.....Maybe??
Hedge's once again comes out fighting in his article as he tries to explain how democracy is failing and that news is being turned into entertainment by corporations. He starts out by saying how the journalism industry is failing, and he states the facts that the stocks of many newspapers are falling. He does have links this time, but Hedges does not put the links to these facts unfortunately. What is the point? I don't know either. Also the economic recession was during the time frame that he wrote, so it was not only the newspapers that were having trouble. They may have been one of the first ones to get hit, but many stocks dropped as everyone well knows. Hedges believes that no one cares about the real facts anymore and says that the internet along with massive corporations are slowly destroying traditional media such as newspapers. Once again Hedges sounds like someone who is a little too afraid of change.
Now on to the second piece. Clive Thompson has a radically different opinion compared to Hedges. Thompson somehow believes that the internet is actually making us more literate. Hedges might blow a gasket if he saw this one. He uses scientific studies from Stanford university to go against the numerous amount of people who think that our new internet habits are destroying are reading and writing habits. The study shows that in the world today people are writing extensively outside of school and job related writing. We are definitely a different generation and will have some differences, but Thompson and Lunsford(the person who conducted Stanford's study) believe that it will benefit us in the long run. Thompson's article is much less assertive than Hedge's and makes you feel like if you do not agree with his view you still might live. People are afraid of the unknown. While the writing and reading habits of our new generations are changing, it does not necessarily have to be for the worse. We are sailing uncharted waters and may come up with new discoveries comparable to the discovering of the Americas. Just think of all the people that were criticized for challenging current ideas, and then look at where we are today because of them. This new age may be the same way.
Now on to the second piece. Clive Thompson has a radically different opinion compared to Hedges. Thompson somehow believes that the internet is actually making us more literate. Hedges might blow a gasket if he saw this one. He uses scientific studies from Stanford university to go against the numerous amount of people who think that our new internet habits are destroying are reading and writing habits. The study shows that in the world today people are writing extensively outside of school and job related writing. We are definitely a different generation and will have some differences, but Thompson and Lunsford(the person who conducted Stanford's study) believe that it will benefit us in the long run. Thompson's article is much less assertive than Hedge's and makes you feel like if you do not agree with his view you still might live. People are afraid of the unknown. While the writing and reading habits of our new generations are changing, it does not necessarily have to be for the worse. We are sailing uncharted waters and may come up with new discoveries comparable to the discovering of the Americas. Just think of all the people that were criticized for challenging current ideas, and then look at where we are today because of them. This new age may be the same way.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
American Illiterate: The Reason for Every Problem in the Nation
Chris Hedge takes a horrid approach at illiteracy in America. He puts himself on a pedestal for having more of an education than others and puts down the people who may not have the best education. He throws out many facts that to me seem unbelievable at best, and when I looked for some links to where this info might have come from, I found nothing. SO I did a little research for myself and found multiple places with a lot of different facts. One site said America had a 99% literacy rate while another said the functional literacy was somewhere around 80%. Definitely different than what Hedge had to say in his essay.
Carr and Hedge's articles have some similarities as they both try to approach the way American's are changing in the new Information Age. They both mention how American's need constant stimulus from the environment around them as the world around us changes. Americans have been trying to find the most convenient way to do things, and I agree there are certain habits that American citizens are acquiring that are detrimental. The main difference I found is that Carr writes in a way that makes you want to trust him. He gets his point across, but he admits that he is open to human fallacy as much as the rest of us and may be wrong. Hedge to me seems very unprofessional and uses his article to assert his belief that America is not much better than the monkeys that swing around in zoos. I believe he may have some good points, but his essay has no benefits and just puts down everyone instead of trying to be constructive.
Carr and Hedge's articles have some similarities as they both try to approach the way American's are changing in the new Information Age. They both mention how American's need constant stimulus from the environment around them as the world around us changes. Americans have been trying to find the most convenient way to do things, and I agree there are certain habits that American citizens are acquiring that are detrimental. The main difference I found is that Carr writes in a way that makes you want to trust him. He gets his point across, but he admits that he is open to human fallacy as much as the rest of us and may be wrong. Hedge to me seems very unprofessional and uses his article to assert his belief that America is not much better than the monkeys that swing around in zoos. I believe he may have some good points, but his essay has no benefits and just puts down everyone instead of trying to be constructive.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Google: Changing the Mind of America
Carr's article reveals many things that I had never thought about or known. In his article "Is Google Making Us Stupid," he explores how the internet and sites such as Google are changing not just our habits, but also how they are actually changing our thought processes utterly and completely. I completely agree with him when he says it is harder to read long and in depth texts because I also feel that I have fallen victim to the same constant deterioration caused by our internet habits. He also proves it scientifically with research to show how it is changing and how it has been changing ever since the internet popped up.
To respond to the question his article poses, I believe he kind of is neutral to the subject. He does not give a solid yes or no answer. He tells us about how he thinks we will change, but he also acknowledges that many benefits could come from these possible transformations that could be coming in the near future. He goes on to explain other examples that he feels are similar such as the invention of writing and the printing press. He is wary of the changes that are happening because of our changing world, but all people are wary of changes when they have been doing things one way for their entire life. Everyone has a slight fear of the unknown that can not be quelled until you let the events unfold for themselves. So I believe Carr is disagreeing with the question that is the title. I think he takes a very positive view on it and is hoping for the best.
Lastly, our internet habits prove this quite well. I know when I was on the internet something was always going on. I would fly between pages every so often and never looked at the same page for too long. All the internet sites are setup to be this way. Even if you are on the same site for a while there are usually endless combinations of pages on every website you go to. I agree completely with what Carr is stating in his article, and when he expresses his views, it can be quite startling to realize the changes that may or may not be occurring without even the slightest hint sometimes.
To respond to the question his article poses, I believe he kind of is neutral to the subject. He does not give a solid yes or no answer. He tells us about how he thinks we will change, but he also acknowledges that many benefits could come from these possible transformations that could be coming in the near future. He goes on to explain other examples that he feels are similar such as the invention of writing and the printing press. He is wary of the changes that are happening because of our changing world, but all people are wary of changes when they have been doing things one way for their entire life. Everyone has a slight fear of the unknown that can not be quelled until you let the events unfold for themselves. So I believe Carr is disagreeing with the question that is the title. I think he takes a very positive view on it and is hoping for the best.
Lastly, our internet habits prove this quite well. I know when I was on the internet something was always going on. I would fly between pages every so often and never looked at the same page for too long. All the internet sites are setup to be this way. Even if you are on the same site for a while there are usually endless combinations of pages on every website you go to. I agree completely with what Carr is stating in his article, and when he expresses his views, it can be quite startling to realize the changes that may or may not be occurring without even the slightest hint sometimes.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Harris' Views
First off I'd like to say that for a book that is talking about writing and improving it, it isn't that bad a read. Now on to the real stuff. Harris has a view of reading and writing that poses them as very intertwined with each other. He liked to use the word rewriting instead of just writing. He did this because he sees writing as a response to some text that you have read or are reading and that you are responding, commenting, etc. on the text that you read when you write. He says, "imagine yourself as rewriting-- as drawing from, commenting on, adding to-- the work of others." His view of reading is that you have to understand what the author is saying in your own words. Then when you write you have to use that to build some sort of argument or thesis of your own if you are using that piece. Pretty much his whole purpose of reading is to use it later in some form of writing.
The main difference between Sullivan's approach to blogging and Harris' view of writing is the freedom aspect of blogging. Harris looks at revising more and looking a lot at your text before you publish it. This is kind of the opposite of the high feeling you get from the freedom of blogging. However, they have the similarity in that they both think blogging/writing are forms of commenting, adding to, and drawing from other people's works. Blogging is just a little less formal than the process that Harris described in his first two chapters. Pretty much we can start to establish that blogging is definitely a form of writing.
The main difference between Sullivan's approach to blogging and Harris' view of writing is the freedom aspect of blogging. Harris looks at revising more and looking a lot at your text before you publish it. This is kind of the opposite of the high feeling you get from the freedom of blogging. However, they have the similarity in that they both think blogging/writing are forms of commenting, adding to, and drawing from other people's works. Blogging is just a little less formal than the process that Harris described in his first two chapters. Pretty much we can start to establish that blogging is definitely a form of writing.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
everyone surfs the web
Everyone in our generation surfs the web. I would even say it is one the most significant changes that our generation has grown up with. As I looked throughout our classmate's blogs as they talked about their various internet habits, I realized that the internet has become the habit that everyone turns to when they are bored. When people are at home with nothing to do, they always have facebook to turn to. Among everyone's blogs that I looked at facebook was the common website that prevailed everyone's browsing history. Many of the sights were ones that were predictable such as blackboard and various other things such as email and facebook. Others however were ones I had never even heard of such as crucial.com and the World of O.
Looking at all these blogs really shows you how versatile the internet is, and why it is used so much throughout the world. You can do practically anything, and while our list shows a decent amount of things that people can do, it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. One thing we did not explore as much was sending info. Most of the things that people used were places where you read info and picked it up on the site such as news and other such things. The internet has become a tool of our generation that will only grow in its capabilities. I believe the places you visit and don't visit also tell a lot about who you are. If there is someone that doesn'y have a facebook that might tell you he is a loner or that he doesn't like to use computers. While looking through all these blogs there is only one question I want answered, What did they do without the internet??
Looking at all these blogs really shows you how versatile the internet is, and why it is used so much throughout the world. You can do practically anything, and while our list shows a decent amount of things that people can do, it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. One thing we did not explore as much was sending info. Most of the things that people used were places where you read info and picked it up on the site such as news and other such things. The internet has become a tool of our generation that will only grow in its capabilities. I believe the places you visit and don't visit also tell a lot about who you are. If there is someone that doesn'y have a facebook that might tell you he is a loner or that he doesn't like to use computers. While looking through all these blogs there is only one question I want answered, What did they do without the internet??
Monday, September 7, 2009
Post 3
Time (9/4/09) Description
12-1230 Blogger. com – checking classmates blogs and comment
130-2 Youtube.com – listening to music on youtube
130-3 Addictinggames.com – played stick war
5-510 Ulink – checked my ul email
510-520 Insightbb.com – checked my personal email
7-9 Facebook.com – chatted with friends online and played mafia wars
- Checked my inbox and replied to a message in my inbox
- Found some friends from my friend’s friend list
9-915 Blackboard – checked blackboard for announcements and grades
Time (9/5/09) Description
700-720 Facebook.com – checked facebook messages and responded to them
1140-1230 Youtube.com – checked out various videos on youtube with some friends
1230-1240 Insightbb.com – checked my personal email, nothing important was there
1240-115 Failblog.org – browsed around the site
2-3 Facebook.com – chatted with my cousin and looked up some friends
3-5 Blackboard.com – looked up class announcements and did 3 STOMP modules
7-8 Addictinggames.com – played stick wars
12-1230 Blogger. com – checking classmates blogs and comment
130-2 Youtube.com – listening to music on youtube
130-3 Addictinggames.com – played stick war
5-510 Ulink – checked my ul email
510-520 Insightbb.com – checked my personal email
7-9 Facebook.com – chatted with friends online and played mafia wars
- Checked my inbox and replied to a message in my inbox
- Found some friends from my friend’s friend list
9-915 Blackboard – checked blackboard for announcements and grades
Time (9/5/09) Description
700-720 Facebook.com – checked facebook messages and responded to them
1140-1230 Youtube.com – checked out various videos on youtube with some friends
1230-1240 Insightbb.com – checked my personal email, nothing important was there
1240-115 Failblog.org – browsed around the site
2-3 Facebook.com – chatted with my cousin and looked up some friends
3-5 Blackboard.com – looked up class announcements and did 3 STOMP modules
7-8 Addictinggames.com – played stick wars
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Post 2
Andrew Sullivan is an acclaimed bloggist on the web as well as journalist for a newspaper. In his essay, Why I Blog, he explores all the different opportunities of blogging and analyzes why he believes blogging is an important form of writing. He has a list of many reasons to answer the question set forth in his essay.
One of the main reasons he listed in his article was the fact that blogging comes with a freedom unequal to writing for say a newspaper or magazine. Instead of being faced with editors and their array of techniques at holding writing from being published, you are open to publish what you want to say without any say from anyone. You have the freedom to be your own publisher and for many writers including Mr. Sullivan that is a very exhilarating experience. Blogging is writing without bounds or limitations. Blogging is one of the openest forms of writing there is.
With great freedom comes great responsibility though. While you have the freedom to write whatever you want to whomever you want, you can also be criticized by all kinds of people. Immediately as people get your post it is open to the scrutiny of millions of people all over the world. You can be bashed harshly, but even this can be beneficial. Andrew Sullivan states that blogging is like writing out loud. Blogging and all the criticism that comes with it sometimes allows you to bounce ideas around and formulate opinions based on lots of info that may not have been available to you if you had not made the original post to start everything rolling.
While blogs can be somewhat inaccurate sometimes because they do not have the intense battery of people poring over the words and editing that physical works such as novels and newspapers have, blogs are a way to bounce around ideas and formulate opinions in a free environment. You won't always be right, but you will always be learning through your mistakes and the opinions of others.
One of the main reasons he listed in his article was the fact that blogging comes with a freedom unequal to writing for say a newspaper or magazine. Instead of being faced with editors and their array of techniques at holding writing from being published, you are open to publish what you want to say without any say from anyone. You have the freedom to be your own publisher and for many writers including Mr. Sullivan that is a very exhilarating experience. Blogging is writing without bounds or limitations. Blogging is one of the openest forms of writing there is.
With great freedom comes great responsibility though. While you have the freedom to write whatever you want to whomever you want, you can also be criticized by all kinds of people. Immediately as people get your post it is open to the scrutiny of millions of people all over the world. You can be bashed harshly, but even this can be beneficial. Andrew Sullivan states that blogging is like writing out loud. Blogging and all the criticism that comes with it sometimes allows you to bounce ideas around and formulate opinions based on lots of info that may not have been available to you if you had not made the original post to start everything rolling.
While blogs can be somewhat inaccurate sometimes because they do not have the intense battery of people poring over the words and editing that physical works such as novels and newspapers have, blogs are a way to bounce around ideas and formulate opinions in a free environment. You won't always be right, but you will always be learning through your mistakes and the opinions of others.
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