thx for the info. I did not say all I said “MOST” and not all Blog abt “Science”…What I said was what I tht was the general Opinion.. Now what if I had posted my entire comment on my blog and just pasted a link here…
My words were tempting enough to provoke a reaction from you, may be it could have been tempting enough for someone to believe it.
And that’s where the folly lies… My statements can and cannot be true. let’s for a moment agree it is true. Now even though it may be a true statement it lacks credibility .. the very word “most” makes it lose credibility. And that’s why I said it is difficult to use them as references while they are good to gain an overall knowledge.

In fact even for the science stuff i have access to better sources like Ebscohost… (paid service) so I choose the safer way out for my references.
The freedom of unchecked publishing has its cons too, there is no one to verify “ALL” the statements published, the same is true for websites and that’s what I pointed out!
I seriously believe that a day will come when One can use blog as a reference just as one would use an encyclopedia.. A day where there would be no issues of content lifting and no fear of Plagiarism… but for that day to come we all have to be a much more responsible bloggers.

We have come far away from “Dear Diaries day” even though there was nothing wrong in it.. kind of diversified but then blogging has to cover a lot more…

Glad to see your response. Agree with you.

I thought blogs as being more than dear diary is hard for *anyone* to deny anymore. My point all through is just this: sticking with *whatever* idea of blogging a blogger has, for himself/herself, is okay (so far as he/she that’s what blogging is all about). We don’t need to grow one at the expense of the other.

Or, that it’s not necessarily nostalgia. I’m not denying there is an element of nostalgia for some. But for others it might be a much more than that. The ‘lack of focus’ could be intentional, or a matter of choice. A niche, non-growing, audience, might be fulfilling someone’s requirements from blogging. It might be a way of life chosen, and not necessarily by default. And it’s fundamentally okay.

I don’t think such bloggers are looking down on bloggers who write topical blogs, say, or deep technical blogs, or blogs that are optimized for traffic and/or monetary considerations (but then again, some might be, unfortunately). However, the feeling has to be reciprocated, as a matter of philosophy (I might believe my religion is the greatest, but I should give allowance to other religions, right?). I didn’t feel that was happening here, till navin’s clarification and now yours.

I think this plethora of possibilities in both spectra that we have in blogging (including podcasts/photo-blogs/and-so-on) does put us in a unique position vis-a-vis mass, mainstream media. I’m all for mutual respect :).

You know what: all these 20 odd comments could have been avoided (of course, what fun would it be, then?) with one reason added to the list: “and if none of this interests you, there might be bloggers like you, who blog on whim, and you might just be able to connect with”. But then, one might argue that that is given in a blog-camp, and Navin was trying just go beyond that. Just looking at the article, it wouldn’t have occurred to me (although now, I do see it that way, even though much was lost in expression).

For me, the most important strength of the blogging medium is this: we can have dissent, and discuss, and if it’s a particularly good day, we might even all agree.

Amen to that :)
asuph

Can you substantiate your (bogey, IMHO) claim that “some would like to deny a blog any more importance than a personal diary/opinion”. Or are we supposed to take it as a given? On this thread? Anyone?

Because, if that’s what we’re arguing for/against, I’m really on your side.

Does ‘deny’ mean being unconcerned/unimpressed, or does it actually means: deny, as is meant in an English dictionary? Or does deny means saying that “hold on. there is more to it than …”.

regards,
asuph.

Firstly, I don’t condemn those blogs but I am quite skeptical about trusting their content. They are a good place to develop interest in the topic get an overall view but certainly, I do not trust them blindly.

The reason being simple they are still an individual’s opinion even though he may be in an expert his views need not be always true and the general opinion or belief. If he had been so sure of his/her opinion he might have put a research paper on it.

Blogs are informal and will always be informal. Content verification cannot be done in most cases and then again references are often to a third party blog, which translates as no verification.

Now, if personal blog is a waste of time both reader and the writer, by same logic sketching, dancing, gardening (only flowers), philately, playing chess, singing etc are a waste of time if u don’t intend to do it professionally.

And FYI the most successful blogs (even if by a professional blogger) are not on a specific topic. If I talk abt say finance theory say, then do i expect a huge following when I speak on BSEL2 implementation impact in 2011 when a general visitor doesn’t understand Securitization – apost written back say 2 yrs ago.

And Who says one needs 10000 visitors/readers. I am more than happy with my 10 and even happier if they were 5. Simply becoz I can express myself the way I can… My way …And I say it becoz on my personal blog I hardly have 3 visitor a day and I like it that way!!! It gives me more freedom to curse, to abuse without even caring that my words may evoke a strong resentment in some..

But when I am on my team blog, I simply can’t use harsh and strong words even though My heart really begs me to use it since the traffic is really high. And I want to ensure that I do not hurt someone or community unintentionally. And then there are people questioning ur every statement that means to give substantial proof.

take the Navin’s case, an unintentional statement caused such a negative reaction that comments long enough to be a post in itself have been left by bloggers (and this includes yours truly!)