Into the Blogosphere Reflection

When I read that only 2-7% of all internet users are bloggers from, “Into the Blogosphere,” initially I honestly wasn’t that surprised. I mean, who has a blogging account nowadays that isn’t middle aged and living in their parents basement? Of course, it took me a minute to realize that I’m writing this on my own blog site. After I actually took time to reflect on this fact, I began to question my previous first impressions. What defines a blog and are they really that unpopular? The blogosphere isn’t as small as Lampa thinks, in reality, it’s a transforming and ever growing community. Blogging is still popular, but it’s in the form of social media, and journalist blogging isn’t necessarily the minority anymore. Blogging is categorized under many different names now and though the term “blogging” seems unpopular, there are so many different forms of it just under new names. In the 21st century, everything is adapting and changing, blogging is just one more of those changes.

Most individuals separate social media and blogging, because two different ideas come to mind. When we think of social media, we picture sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter etc., while we relate blogs with sites like WordPress. In Lampa’s article, he divides the blogosphere into two separate groups, which are the diarists and the journalists. Could we not separate people who use social media into the same groups? On my Facebook page, I have friends that are always sharing links to different news articles, posting their political opinions, or just sharing a story from their weekend. Lampa states, “On this point, blogging clearly has the upper hand on print and broadcast journalism. For forming community, hyperlinks become essential for creating the central core of the blogosphere. Bloggers have the ability to publicly debate issues back and forth by directly linking to one another’s posts as well as news articles that may serve as source material” (Lampa). Is this not what social media users also do in their social media spheres online? Amateur journalism not only occurs in Lampa’s definition of a blog, but also in social media. Now, I say, “Lampa’s definition,” because the true definition of blogging is, “a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.” The blogosphere is not this small community of users, in reality, the style of blogging that Lampa discusses is just the smaller part of the blogosphere. The entire blogosphere should include many more parts of social media, because it’s just the new style of blogging. Posts are shorter, sharing links has become faster, posts are also becoming visual and more easily attainable. Not only is the blogosphere growing, but there are not as many barriers to blogging as Lampa claims. He states, “Adding to this global digital divide is the dominance of English on the Internet, which is reflected in the blogosphere as well; English-language blogs outnumber all other blogs three to one (NITLE, 2003)” (Lampa). With technology, humans can instantly translate messages to practically any language. Yes, initial internet access may still be a restraint for many individuals, but in today’s society, it will only expand from here on out. In Lampa’s conclusion, he suggests, “The community must begin to find ways to promote the writings of diarist bloggers in order for their unique style of blogging to be more widely represented, which would serve to deepen the shared experience of diarist bloggers and subsequently strengthen the image of community” (Lampa). In reality, the community already found a new way to promote diarist and journalist bloggers, and that new way is social media.

Lampa, Graham. “Into the Blogosphere – University of Minnesota.” Conservancy,

                  conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/172275.