Are Blogs Killing The Internet

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Enjoy this little sketch. Its meaning will be discussed shortly. BLOG OFF!!!! Captain’s Blog, Stardate June 27th 2007. 7.49 PM. The crew don’t talk to one another any more. They just send messages by the computer, and listen to Ipods all day. I sent out a code red emergency. during a Romulan attack, but the crew only responded when I sent it out as a blog text. “It’s most Illogical Captain”, Spock said the other day, in his blog comment on my message…. I have e-mailed Starfleet for advice. I received an advert for Klingon Viagra in response. E-Space virus. Time for another red alert. Captain James T. Kirk, Boldly Blogging where no blog has been before….. (Sketch ends) It’s already getting like that sadly – people are forgetting to talk when they can blog, text or e-mail. Worse, mainstream website building is giving way increasingly to blog posting, where people can just cut and paste a message or a diary page into a preset format like Blogger or Blogitive. Proper website construction is falling by the wayside. I do have some blogs. I use them primarily as a friend’s network and as a supplement to my main website – not as a substitute. Some blogs are worth reading – others are dreadful – just as with web sites. Most diary format blogs put the latest entries on the top of the page. New readers will find it exasperating that the messages are sequels and updates on ongoing threads posted at earlier dates. This means that the reader either has to catch up by trawling through earlier messages 9often listed only by date). Some bloggers don’t add links to other sites, or Youtube videos – they simply cut and paste the videos right onto their own pages, in disregard of copyright or permission seeking. With many blogs, banner ads, links to other pages on the blog site, and friend’s links often take up more of the screen than the actual text messages. Some bloggers use such fancy graphics and colours that the text becomes near impossible to read anyway. Such blogs usually deter me from reading from the outset. I like to see what someone has to say. If I have to go through excess packaging, advertising, and distractions, I’ll probably just abandon the blog site unread. Many bloggers also fail to leave a contact e-mail addresser link to any site other than their own personal blog, hoping that they will have an exclusive control of any surfer who lands there - but believe me – blogs are not like a Venus Fly Trap – if you don’t please the reader, the reader will leave and never return. A blog, like a novel, has to grip the reader from the outset. Arthur Chappell.