Catharsis

The blogging phenomenon. It’s taken the world by storm, and it seems that anyone who is (or thinks they are) anyone is blogging these days.

I love blogs. I love to read random blogs - it’s like standing outside a stranger’s window, and catching a momentary glimpse of their lives. I don’t have any blogs that I read religiously, or even fairly regularly, but I do read many, many blogs each day.

There are certain types of blogs that leave me feeling hollow though - those blogs with the lists… you know the type: 10 Things You Can Do To Get Blog Traffic, 15 Mistakes Bloggers Make, 37 Ways To Make Money From Blog Ads, and those that have more paid posts than actual original, heartfelt writing. I also die a little inside each time I see a blog with so much flashy, trashy advertising on it that I can’t find the actual posts.

I don’t begrudge anyone making money from their writing, by any means, but I do feel saddened that so many promising and talented writers have become marketing copywriters for all kinds of miscellaneous products. Products that companies think we would be more inclined to buy if “ordinary people” are paid to endorse them. When did blogging become more about revenue earned from advertising and less about the love for and joy of writing?

More and more of the blog windows I’m peeking into these days are not glimpses into other people’s lives, but constantly airing infomercials.

This was the most sincere blog I read all day: