How I got into the blogging craze

IT was not a couple of months ago that I got hooked into blogging. Before that, I found it absurd that people would post their thoughts and their daily activities for all the world to see. I found it even more absurd that peo ple would post on their blogs yet change the preferences to private so other pe ople will not read the entries. I thought, "Why create an online diary if you a re not going to make it public anyway?" So I shunned the idea of creating my own blog, even as my friends maintained ei ther a personal website or an account with a blog site. But everything changed two years ago. My friend sent me a link to her blog, and I decided to check it out. Within minutes, I found myself absorbed in reading her blog and was amused at how many people gave their inputs to her entries.

It was more like an onlin e community where you can share your thoughts with your friends and they get to share their points of view as well. It was then that I realized that blogs are more than just personal diaries wher e you write your daily activities. Rather, blogs are powerful tools for communi cating with others. Nowadays, people use their blogs to share their most intima te thoughts, such as political views, entertainment rants and raves, and cultur al views.

Blogs like that of Newsbreak and PCIJ are just some of the popular online journals that people regularly visit to read ab out political insights and editorials. That was when I decided to start my own blog. I created an account with Blogspot, one of the popu lar blog sites today. What got me hooked into Blogspot, or Bs, is that it al lows you to create and participate in an online community where you can connect with hundreds of people. Itâs also a plus that most of my friends have Bs accounts, making it easier for me to connect with them. Having an Bs account also l ets me get in touch with my friends because I can read their entries and share my comments. It also gives me the venue to create new relationships, like parti cipating in online communities and groups.

Ive been maintaining my blog for a while now. I've posted all kinds of entries, from my personal takes on political issues to seemingly mundane topics like love and friendship. Yet, I'm proud of my blog because I'm able to share my in sights and take part in that great world of discourse and gossip.

Be a catalyst, write blogs

THE proliferation of weblog tool and publishing platforms, such as Blogspot, Wordpress and its evolution to include multimedi a content such as art sketches, photographs, music and video drove a shift in p aradigm of publishing and sharing information. Everyone has power to become an author and publisher. In the corporate space, executives use blogs to deliver opinion on the industry and information on their products and offerings. Then thereâs the personal blo g. For most of us, the blog has become the extension of dairies, chronicling pe rsonal events and a sentimental log of personal statements on almost anything. For some, it becomes a therapy to deal with pain or loss. Still, others try to provide entertainment by dishing out entries of a fictional, intelligent house help. Sharing anecdotes, opinions or thoughts is inherent to us Filipinos. 

Given this and the blog, it is all but possible to turn the Filipino blogosphere as socia l catalyst for positive change. The act of blogging in itself is a form of stru ggle to express opinion. The written (or typed for online) word is mightier than the sword. T he word stares back at readers, compelling them to react and argue with the str ing of letters. And with the comments box even more accessible now than ever, o pinions are poured upon -- making a collective output from the thoughts of blog gers and readers. Blogs pave way for more open, wider discussion of critical to pics. Everyone has liberty to voice and fight for their ideas on an equal platf orm. Yes, it paves way for us to agree to disagree. Blog technology and good English are assets Filipinos can use to unite words in to stories and demand change. 

I believe it is high time most Filipino blogs mov e beyond being online diaries. Wear a different lens to discover blogging in a new perspective: a platform to contribute to positive change. Type a satire, a fictional story or a funny anecdote of social issues relevant to Filipinos. We have a thousand topics to write on news we see, hear or read. Awareness without action is not enough -- react, disagree and discuss the Filip ino social reality.