The World of Blogs

Blogs have a variety of different uses; as learning tools, for catching up on the news, and for expressing your own personal experiences and beliefs, which may be described as both good and bad. Blogs can be good for expressing your opinions, while they can be bad for the exact same reason because your words can get you into trouble. When you first click on the icon to the internet, you are entering the world of blogs whether you know it or not. Blogs flood the world wide web bearing both horns and a halo.

Blogs are used daily by diverse people everywhere. This can range from teens to businessmen, from wives to celebrities, and everyone in-between. People check the news online, they might research information for their jobs or for school, they may also use them for their own personal enjoyment, or for the sole purpose of entertainment. Some blogs may be a mixture between both news and entertainment, such as www.theonion.com. When you visit this website you will find news blogs about different events happening in the world, but with a humorous twist.

For many people, blogging is a way to express themselves. They are free to write about anything and everything. This can range from their everyday life, opinions, stories, jobs, beliefs, and so on. Blogs may be the only way a person can tell how they feel or things that they are going through that they may not be able to talk about any other way. This is not always a good thing though. It isn't unheard of that some people talk about their bosses or co-workers in their blogs, and they don't always talk about how great they are. In fact, it is usually the complete opposite. This can lead to big trouble. There are so many different blogs on the internet, that it is sometimes assumed that no one will read or find your blog, which is not true at all. Someone could decide to Google a co-workers name and come across their blog, which can lead to potential problems depending on what is talked about, and who is reading it. "All bloggers...would be wise to write as if their bosses, future bosses or grandmothers were reading over their shoulders", states www.blueskyresumes.com in their blog about the pros and cons of blogging. It can also be against a corporations policy to have a blog due to privacy matters. "While blogs have a legitimate use, online journals pose serious threats to enterprise confidentiality, integrity, and availability", as stated in an article at www.researchandmarkets.com.

So it is always good to be aware of the things you write about in your blog, if you do not you may get falsely accused of something you didn’t do. One recent example of this involved the Virginia Tech killings. Police and detectives were still trying to uncover the gunman and came across a blog containing coincidental information from an Asian student. The blog was written by Wayne Chiang, a 23-year-old student at Virginia Tech. His blog contained information about his love of guns and even how he had recently gone their a bad break-up just like Cho Seung-Hui, the actual gunman. The news started spreading the story and Chiang had to inform them that he was not the killer, and had to post this information on his blog. You can visit his website and read about him, and the things he went through dealing with the accusations at http://wanusmaximus.livejournal.com/.

The majority of blogs are used for positive use, but some are used mainly for negativity or hostility. This simple form of communication or expression can be found as a horrible thing, or an item used to incriminate others, whether they really are guilty, or if they happen to be innocent. Internet users have to be aware of their surroundings online, and their own actions online by using blogs wisely. Like stated before: "All bloggers...would be wise to write as if their bosses, future bosses or grandmothers were reading over their shoulders". Blogs have come a long way since when they were first discovered. They can be seen all over the web from sites that are educational, personal, or even news related, and have become very useful to people today due to the high operation of computers. As soon as your mouse clicks on the internet icon, you are entering the world of blogs.