Bothersome blogging

It’s that time of the day again. Or perhaps week – maybe even month, for some. You sit before the screen, typing furiously in mock busyness – hunching over the screen, as though your body were a shield of sorts. Hiding the tell-tale signs from what you perceive to be prying eyes from behind. But ironically, with a simple click of the mouse, you jubilantly send your latest masterpiece (or not) off to be processed for worldwide display. This time spent on this routine procedure ranges from seconds to hours, and all this despite a keen awareness of the exponentially growing pile of homework and PTs – all too familiar terms in the average student’s vocabulary.

Welcome to blogging, the phenomenon of the new teenage generation, amid cries of being overworked and time-stretched. For many, gone are the days of old fashioned pen-and-paper, heart-and soul meetings. In its place rushes in an illuminated screen, suave keyboards, incoherent ramblings – as professed by many, and a couple of other flashing windows to keep you occupied during the 10 second log in time (no, all you eager Lit students, I am not referring to enlightenment of any form).

Why the lure of this rather unflattering transition?

Many cite the primary reason of convenience over the conventional diary. It does seem justified that the combined succession of fingers is faster than the mere vibration of the wrist. Thus minutes are saved each day – but possibly at the cost of pondering, reflecting on the deeper wonders of life; it its place ten lines of words that might not even constitute a grammatical sentence.

It is also acknowledged that blogging serves as a public outlet for sharing, and sympathizing. A mere “help I am going to die!!!!” (perhaps expressed in a more hyperbolic fashion) earns one a myriad of encouraging tags or comments. Though this can be a positive point, another problem will inevitably crop up – the slow, but sure undermining of the necessity for face-to-face social interactions, be it in joy, distress, or anxiety. Let’s face it, typing a “jiayou!” is so much easier, but cheaper, than hearing out and encouraging the person in real life.

Moreover, blogging can be manipulated for personal benefit. It helps one get out of sticky situations, in particular with those closer to you (and are hence likely to read your blog). A harsh phrase that hurt can be rectified by a simple indirect apology online, enabling one to escape the necessity of humility in real confession. Words are cheapened, less considered, uttered unthinkingly; since one can apologise behind the comfort of the screen without requiring an element of sincerity. Actually, the entirely realistic possibility of an online persona being a mere façade can be frightening.

Convenience, but at what cost: bothering to care, bothering to be there?


- Talia Seet 315