Theme: "The writer's new best friend: Blogging"

The Internet Exploded With a Mighty Sound: BLOG!

I am one of the lucky ones born late enough to enjoy the blessings of the Internet and early enough for
me to have an idea of what the Internet looked like when there were no blogs. By ‘blogs’, I mean blogs,
well, everyone probably knows what blogs are so I don’t think I need to explain what it is. If you really
have no idea, think of it like an online diary for the world to see.

I was in my junior year in college when I discovered blogging. That time, there were only a few well-
known bloggers. One is, of course, Bob Ong. The other one is Wanda (I’m not sure if you have heard
about Wanda Ilusyunada, but if you have, good for you). At first I thought blogging was a premium
service, available only to people willing enough to pay via credit card for online access. Then I noticed
the emergence of other blogs with the domains “.blogspot.com”, “.blogdrive.com”, etc. Then I found out
my friend has a blog. That’s when I thought, Hmm, if Em has a blog, this service must be for free. That’s
when I noticed the link to register. FOR FREE, it said in big bold letters. Darn it.

I wasn’t one of the people who heard about blogging, created a blog, created a post, and then, that
scary empty white box staring them in the face, searched their minds helplessly for an idea, for an
inkling, a tiny dot of what to write about. Then gave up, logged out and went back to their own blog-less
lives.

I also wasn’t, and still am not, one of those people who created a blog feeling like it’s some societal
protocol because everyone else has blogs, who then decided on a theme, let’s say melons, and
concentrated on melons and had a blogful of melon pictures, essays, songs and readers who eventually
got tired of melons but not before the author himself got tired and abandoned the melon blog to start a
new one, about watermelons this time.

As an aspiring writer, I was the kind of blogger who had spent years keeping thoughts to myself, looking
for an outlet, and then boom. Blog. My best friend. Instantly, I signed up (for free, God bless Blogspot),
and poured everything. I did not have a theme, the theme was ME. I did not get tired, my blog is four
years old and counting. And unlike Bob Ong and Wanda, I did not make any money out if it, darn!

A few years after, everyone else as in EVERY ONE ELSE has blogs. Not that I’m complaining, it’s fun. It’s a
big pool of talent, creativity, and artistry. And it’s a great way to meet new friends/enemies!

Now, everyone I know has a blog. OK, not everyone. Let’s say 50%, fair enough. It’s their new best
friend. Years ago, people had a real best friend. You know, the physical human best friend, who used to
go out with them to Megamall and have a life. Things have changed dramatically with blogging. Now,
people go alone to Megamall, buy something (take a picture), eat somewhere (take a picture), have the
mandatory coffee (take a picture of the coffee BEFORE the first sip), watch a movie (they need to post
something really long today because they haven’t posted anything since Farmville occupied their minds)
and then go home, write a post, upload the photos of course, then publish, and then wait for
comments/shout-outs from their online best friends, some of which would just say Nice post keep it up
or I was here, bloghopping. In just one sitting, you get a fashion tip, a food critic article, a film review,
and of course, a friend.

So much for friends, now for enemies. My blog-friend had one enemy before. Some blogger guy had the
audacity to copy and paste my friend’s Showbiz post, word-for-word, and claim it as his own. That is just
unthinkable, it’s theft, it’s blog-suicide! Nobody likes reading thieves’ blogs, it’s like having a crush on
someone who borrowed a face. My friend, of course, was seriously effed, and vowed to forever ex-
communicate that scum-brained, plagiarizing son of a b, removed him from his links, stopped
“following” him and blogged about the whole incident.

Blogging is easily the future unfolding. There are blogging communities, there are Blog Awards, there are
blogs about how to blog (I know right?). Some people, the really lucky ones, get paid to blog. And guess
what, there are blog etiquettes! Just to name a few, you NEVER ignore people who comment on your
articles. You reply to their comments, visit their blog, check out their latest post, and comment on that.
You also NEVER leave messages on people’s tagboards/shoutboxes telling people to visit your blog
because you have a great new poem about OFW’s - that is considered blog-whoring. As common
courtesy, you should link whoever links you, and “follow” whoever “ is following” you, unless you’re
really not into making blog-friends. Most importantly, you don’t get to hibernate for months and expect
people to faithfully come back to your blog when you’re ready, NO. Blog-readers have a short attention
span, and a month old “new” post is stale. You have to earn your readers back.

Some people think blogging is stupid. Yes, my aunt tells me so! She’s like, Why don’t you go out, meet
your friends, and tell them about your beach trip instead of doing THAT, which roughly translates to GET
A LIFE. Excuse me, I do have a life, that’s why my blog is always updated, duh?

Blogging is the new platform for advertising, for promoting a cause, spreading awareness, entertaining
audiences, and just plain old ranting. Some people get paid, some get in trouble (take that guy who got
PAWS’ attention when he blogged about how he killed cats, what an idiot, he should have at least
“blogged responsibly” made it sound like an accident). Some people are just taking advantage of the
technology. Some people have memories to preserve. Some people have to show the world that they
exist, that they think, that they can write what they think.

Blogging is great… but not the whole time. Sometimes people force themselves to write something.
Some people write just to be recognized, be famous, get money (Google ads, anyone?). Some just blog
for attention. Just about anyone can call themselves a writer, and their blog, their best friend. I think it
defeats the whole purpose of blogging, which is WRITING. Blogging, for me, is my individuality, yeah,
that’s why I’m not using a readymade template! It’s another means of standing out of the crowd, and
not another way to conform.

Plus, bloggers are crazy! It’s just that, years before, if you have to complete a research paper, let’s say,
on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you turn in to your really brainy friend Google and pound S-E-O on
your keyboard, and Google brings you to Wikipedia, etc. You trust that your resources are reliable, you
print the paper and pass it, graduate in flying colors, get married and die eventually.

Nowadays, you cannot be this trusting! You search for Search Engine Optimization and along with the
reliable sources, in the results, you get Someone’s Blog ranting how much he hates his fat, arrogant,
Taylor-Swift-MP3-playing boss and his job as an SEO engineer. You get Some Girl’s Girly Overly Glittery
Blog telling you how much she enjoyed her impromptu blind date with a guy who works as a Search
Engine Optical Illusion Engineer, whose dentures fell out when he laughed at his own joke. You also
reach Some Slob’s Lazy Blog where he asks his readers if they have a ready-made research paper on
Search Engine Optimization.

They’re not helping! They will confuse you! You cannot print your research paper in time, you can’t pass,
you won’t graduate and your life is ruined.

But hey, at least you can start a blog about your life’s failures, it’s FREE.