Blogs can be more than “online diarrhea”

A popular misconception among some mainstream media is that blogs are just online diaries, so blogs are a fad. Blogs are a waste of time. Who wants to read all these stories about what people had for breakfast and at what time they walked their dog? Like this quote from a column in Sundsvalls Tidning about journalist Per Svensson at Expressen and his new blog (are bad journo blogs giving the rest of us a bad rep?).

“Alla pratar men har inget att säga.
Alla informerar men ingen vet någonting.
Alla vill bli författare men ingen är ett skit intresserad av litteratur.”

Everyone talks but no-one has anything to say. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Just because there are so called cat blogs out there (not that there’s anything wrong with that…), doesn’t mean that all blogs are the same. And as always, Amy Gahran at the Contentious blog says it so much better than me. “Too often, blogs are primarily described or defined as personal online diaries.” They can be online diaries, but often they are not.

Gahran lists 6 blog myths and stereotypes to avoid. I especially like this one. “Weblogs are personal diaries, usually amateurish”. Gahran writes “Well, that’s like saying most of the universe is hydrogen and dust. Yeah, BUT: There are galaxies and black holes and planets and nebulae, too. Which would you rather focus on?”