Why He Blogs

Andrew Sullivan has a view of blogging that I feel is not unique. He summarizes feelings a variety of individuals can relate to, and describes in “Why I Blog” his transition from formal writing to blogging. It seems Mr. Sullivan enjoys being held accountable for what he says in his blog more than he ever was before, one of the main reasons I believe he does his writing online. By publishing to the World Wide Web after hardly an editorial scan, his thoughts can be spoken exactly as he means them, and can skip the part of editing where others have a say in his work. By posting exactly what he means, he gets direct feedback that, similarly, is unwavering from its intentions. As Sullivan explains, “Alas, as I soon discovered, this sudden freedom from above was immediately replaced by insurrection from below.” Because there is no face to face contact in blogging, the truth must be addressed and he can’t escape unscathed if someone has harsh criticism of his words; but for this, I think Sullivan is grateful. In addition, he adds that sometimes the people challenging his views know more about the subject of his blogging than he himself does. This puts out an interesting point- are we getting smarter when strangers are the ones giving us feedback? By not turning to friends for review, the sugarcoating that might usually take place in a writing process is skipped. If, indeed, we increase our intellectual standing by having strangers ponder our thoughts, then thank you for reading my blog. I feel smarter already.