this blogging phenomenon...

...really, is...a PHENOMENON.

it's a big word, innit? i didn't start asking the question as to why people blog after i've read a few blogs...some of them are really entertaining...so much so that i've recommended to a friend that she should compile all her blogs and publish it! why not? (there's money in this people!) sorta like a 21st century anne frank diary...oakay, morbid, and maybe insensitive but...you get the idea, not so much autobiography and not so personal journal either...so what is it then? a collection of personal observations, a narration of events...the closest equivalent i can find in conventional terms would be a journal. a journal, unarguably contains one's personal observations.

now that we've established the "what?" (don't think necessary to establish the "how?" and "when?"...unless you're really blazed or knackered off your face); lets try to understand the "why?" - is there a simple and straightforward answer to this? if you do, please drop me a line. damn sure would like to know.

traditionally, when people write in their journals, or memoirs, or diaries as it is most commonly known as; the written works used to be an extremely private property, one's deepest, blackiest secrets...stuff that murder mysteries are made of...but with the advent of web logs (uh oh, web+logs=blogs, DOH!) people are very free in their self-expression. these expressions are not limited to deepest, blackest, naughtiest, dirtiest secrets....but expanded to everyday happenings. sad things, happy things...things at work, relationships, etc..you name it. so what is it that drives this propensity to write even about mundane things in one's lives? in other words, WHY does one write a blog? (this is one for you anthro/socio/psycho/artsy-fartsy freaks!)

my argument would be, people are experiencing the increasing need to be heard, and to be heard without interruptions. some may argue that it (writing the stuff in blogs) is for self-discovery (really? and let the whole world read it? think not!). some say it is to hone their writing skills (hmm...??). so the most acceptable (in my honest opinion), is that people want to be heard! and, history shows that those who demand to be heard usually have something that they are not satisfied with. at this juncture, you may say that not all blogs are protests against the government or war on terror. agreed, but i'm not limiting my scope of argument to just the stuff that are written...but more towards the psycho-behaviour to write AND (this is important)...get others to read it! a blog is worth nothing if no one reads it. might as well then, keep a journal (in the conventional sense), no? some may also say that it is a tool to communicate with the people who are far away. instead of calling up or meeting up (which may prove impossible in some cases), writing blogs as an easy and cheap way to tell the people half way across the globe what it is that happened in your day, that day. honestly, damn! if this is your reason, you do have a personality disorder...why can't you call up/meet up people and tell them about your day? timing? hah! excuses...

going back to my thread of argument that people write blogs because they are not satisfied with something or other; so what is it that people are not satisfied with? i think, the reasons behind this is as varied as the stuff that make up the blogs themselves. and these reasons are very much the same as for the writers of personal journals and diaries. here, i do not think that we have much to disagree on. so what is the point i'm making?

the point is, there is one reason that may bind all the reasons people might have to write blogs. be it communication, companionship, writing-skills, loneliness, therapy, protests, etc...and that reason is helplessness. people write in blogs because they want others to read it. when others read their blogs, they are effectively being heard without interruptions. by doing so, their helplessness is alleviated somewhat - in the same manner that people pour their heart out to their counselors or psychiatrists...cos, they just want to be heard...(you follow me so far? presuming someone is reading this...)

so why did i call it a PHENOMENON? simple, just look at the hundreds and hundreds of blogs that exist today. what this incident (for lack of a better word) reflects to me is that many, many, many people are suffering from a bout of helplessness. helplessness towards what? well, like i said earlier, as varied as the stuff that makes it into the blogs themselves...that is for a different rambling of mine.

so, what am i feeling helpless about now? i'm feeling helpless about the fact that i've got so many things to think and do and i've got a thousand thoughts a minute that i need to arrange my thoughts and it's becoming extremely difficult to do. i can't tell someone about it cos, shit, what's the point? if i were to say as i think than i'd probably talk like this, "dsfjpjksd! dsjflfgjolfdg, ofdg jfdog khokfohfoisafdg...sjigsodfgifdg dfgojhoghfghpdgihpofhogfh". numsayin'? so, instead i write a blog. with the aim to achieve what? i don't know...maybe for someone to message me and say, "there, there...things will be alright" or even, "i feel you man!".

actually, no...i don't want to hear someone giving me comfort words..cos i know, and you know...things can only get worse (more bills to pay, bigger debts to get into, responsibilities...dadadadadadada). and no, i don't really want to know if there's someone out there who is experiencing the same thing cos, unless you can sort out my thinking for me...you're not doing much good. so, why is it that i write in here? i write this in here cos i think what i'm writing is insightful but it comes at a such weird timing, and of such obscure topic that i reckon people are not really interested to listen to it even if i force it on them...

c'mon, you have to agree, you haven't thought about this yourself, have you?