Philosphy of blogging

What is the value of blogging? Why might blogging be useful to you in this class--and perhaps beyond this class as well? How can blogging fit into and even implement a Christian world view?

The value of blogging lies in its open-endedness. It gives people the freedom to say exactly what they want to say about anything, to the length and depth they desire and in keeping with whatever style they choose. Without the constraints of formality, structure, topic, or rules on what can be written, a person is free to express themselves. Although blogging tends to be a rougher, less refined style of writing, it often contains an honesty, a "realness" that can have a tendency to get lost amidst the rules and unspoken requirements of other forms of communication. A blog is even less inhibited than a conversation, because the person does not have to adhere to the flow of the conversation, or to the level of interest of their current audience. That person can say anything, and those who are interested can read and react, while those who are not can click out. This is the value of blogging. The freedom to express, and to be open with what one has to say.

Blogging will be useful for my Comp II class because it allows me to process the information that I am taking in and pump it back out in my own words. This activity forces me to think, to change abstract ideas floating in my brain to concrete ones that become text. Then, I can look at what I have written and realize what I actually think about the particular topic, and how I reacted. It allows me the freedom to put down my initial thoughts and impressions, without having to worry about structure or flow, so that when I get to the point where that is a requirement of my assignment, I already know, in general, what I want to say and what I think, and can then focus on that aspect of my writing. Thus, blogging becomes part of the sifting process, of filtering the information and deciding what to use and what I agree with. This part forms a rudimentary--and much more effective--form of prewriting or drafting that the traditional style that I learned.

Blogging can easily be a part of the Christian worldview. There is nothing inherently against my faith that is contained in what blogging is. People can use and abuse their ability to say what they wish, and some of the content of their blogs can be sinful and go against my beliefs. Blogging itself, however, is not the source of that. It can be used to express anything from feelings and emotions to prayers and petitions to God to the soccer score of the my favorite team's last game. In the life of a believer, there should be no distinction between the sacred and the secular. Everything that I do, including what I write on this sight, should be God-honoring. Through a blog, a person has some power to do what is right, to sin, to cause harm, or to help. What to do is a choice that has to be made by the blogger, just like in every other area of his or her life. Blogging can actually impliment a Christian worldview, if the person chooses to allow it to do so. Everything that is written shapes what that blog becomes. I imagine a person living out their faith cannot help but spill some of that over into the site itself. When it is read by another, that person should will see evidence of their faith, of the worldview mirroring Christ in us, by being able to see life through the viewpoint of that Christian person, writing from that particular slant. We cannot help but have our beliefs and views come through in our writing. If our faith is really what we value and the lense throug which we view the world, that will become apparent in our blogs.