Who is Safe in the Blogosphere?

I am just beginning the process of writing my first blog. I have been reading some articles about posting blogs. After reading these articles, I have come to some conclusions about the blogosphere. I think that blogging is a great way to express thoughts and feelings about a variety of topics. I believe that blogging is a great opportunity to see how you can synthesize what you have learned about life and speak about it to a new and wider audience. However, blogging can be fraught with dangers. Specifically, I am referring to the type of personal information that you place on the Internet about yourself. It’s true that many people can take your information and use it for nefarious means such as creating false identities.

I don’t think this means that we should be afraid to use the Internet to express our views. I do think that we should be sure that whatever we post on the Internet, we are okay with having on the Internet. Adults and children both must be cautious about their Internet activities. I personally believe that we should stick with the old maxim “Let the buyer beware” or to be more accurate, “Let the web blogger beware”.

The use of blogs has jumped tremendously in the last few years. There are great insights into the minds of people and their views about society and world events. Bloggers must also be careful what they say about others. Making statements that are unfounded and even false can lead to potential lawsuits. In some respects, blogs can be almost be viewed as a type of “Internet Editorial Page”, akin to the editorial pages written by many newspaper columnists for decades. The difference often lies in the intent of the blogs that one creates. Are they created to simply inform people about life and share opinions about various topics or are they created with the intent to hurt others? That is a tricky and difficult question to answer.

My personal belief is that blogs can be used to educate people and society about themselves. Blogs are a great tool for conveying ideas. The key is, how do we use them? That is something that we all have to consider for ourselves.