The blogging bandwagon continues to grow

When I first started blogging, I viewed it as an opportunity to write regularly on a variety of topics, many that might lack an outlet via more traditional options, namely the print media. For much of the first few months, I found that I had alot to say and felt like I was writing an op ed per day via my blog(s).

While many Americans still don't know what a blog is, much of the media has latched onto blogging and there are countless articles on the subject. While there has been some credible writing on the blogosphere (Pressthink comes to mind) and whether it deserves to be considered journalism, much of it has been typical of the usual handwringing that accompanies most attempts at creating new vehicles for communication. With much of the old media (print and television) jumping on the blogging bandwagon (MSNBC's Keith Olbermann for instance) to try to ride the newest wave onto the beach, most don't offer much that's new or terribly groundbreaking. Actually, I'm being unfair to Olbermann, as I have found some decent writing at his blog.

For instance, there are a growing number of stories carried via mainstream outlets talking about books about bloggers, bloggers and the media, and the meanness of bloggers. What does it all mean? I don't know and I personally haven't found the analysis terribly penetrating.

I'll continue to blog, although it's not as important to me as it once was. Various bloggers will continue to attain some measure of celebrity, less for their writing ability it seems, and more often for the same shallow reasons that much of our popular culture is lacking in much, if any substance.

I read fewer blogs now than I ever have. What excites me about blogging is less the usual "cut and paste" of many of the more popular blogs, and more often, hearing a writer's voice coming through telling me something new; a new book, movie, band, or providing analysis that's not part of the same old dog and pony show.