OTHER USES OF BLOGS |
Others use their blogs to document their lives as way to affirm their very existence. Circulating in the blogosphere is the humorous phrase blogito ergo sum.
Keeping family and friends abreast of life events was a key use of blogging, whether the events were quotidian activities or serious episodes such as Don's wife's illness. Several informants said their blogs started when they purchased digital cameras and began to post pictures.
We found that blogs as photo albums served to document lives, especially for those far from home or with young children.
As a genre characterized by frequent postings in reverse chronological order, blogs were a natural to be used as travelogues and schedules to inform an audience of the authors’ whereabouts—where they’d been, where they were, and where they were going. Many in our study posted pictures from trips and family outings. They would also report on where they were headed, especially if they knew family and friends living in that area, in order to get together with them. In this way, blogs facilitated in-person social connections.
Why were blogs used to "document my life" when email or a personal webpage might also have been used? A number of informants observed that the broadcast nature of blogs was crucial: they could put the information out there and no one need respond if they did not wish to. Blogging was seen as less intrusive. No one is "forced to pay attention," observed Lara, as they are with email. Readers go to the blog in a completely "voluntary" manner, when they have time, said a number of our informants.