I came into this class thinking I would learn about new forms of video editing and modern art, but on the first day I had a radical paradigm shift. As I learned, New Media has very little to do with traditional media or artwork. The first assignment, as we all know, was to write a blog post on something, anything. I, being the constant cynic, blogged about the uselessness of blogging. I could not wrap my mind around the idea that people could blog for fun; it felt disconnecting and meaningless. However, my prejudices were quickly swayed as I dove head first into the blogosphere. While I still don't consider myself an avid blogger (I only blog for the class), I have come to understand what is so special about blogging, it is, in fact, the community. I still can't quite understand why people would create their own blog that nobody reads, but knowing that our blog leads to a discussion amongst peers and friends seems extremely pertinent and important. Much like facebook, I live in the community I comment about and that's where I derive the drive to post and connect with others.

If asked what a "blog" was during my younger years of high school, I would have answered with an uncertain reference to political forums for "older" people such as my parents, dedicated readers of The Huffington Post. When my peers (and in turn, myself) discovered such blogging phenomenons as livejournal and myspace, as mentioned in many of the other blogs on our class site, I was first taken aback by how intrusive it seemed to have such open information on the internet at the public's disposal. What I learned from reading my more blog-savvy friends' entries is that blogs are actually sometimes better used to disguise personal information and thoughts because they allow the writer to identify with anything. The openness and even anonymity of blogs are opportunitites to present ourselves exactly how we choose with the option to add, omit, embellish, or censor our characters and lifestyles. Many blogs are even tailored to the reception of comments and responses, and writers keep their readers in mind when deciding what to include or not. Blogs warrant attention, controversy, sympathy, or any other response solicitated by their writers.