New Power of the People

“Say you want a revolution"
John Lennon

Before I started this whole blogger thing, I was talking to a friend of mine and I casually mentioned I was starting a blogsite. She mentions that she can’t get into it because, and I quote, “I feel naked”.

A couple of days ago, I was talking to another friend and we got to talking about this whole blogging thing. I mention that I’m really into this and she does too. But then she says it’ll die down once we lose the “novelty” of it. We pretty much agree that the “novelty” is all the tweaks to the blog site. I sure know the feeling. I spent hours, company time of course, finding on the net how to add links to my website. Once I found out how, it was truly gratifying.

I mention these two because it got me thinking about the art of blogging and the effect it has on us as persons and other people. Other people you say? I hardly even have other people come and look at my site. Let me explain.

We write these online journals for different reasons. I read one that described the pain of her first period. One was angry at her mom. This dude was posting really weird art. Another had a fetish for deep sea creatures. Poems, songs. My own short story. I actually found the photo of Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction from last year’s Super Bowl on a blog site. One was tearing Ashlee Simpson a new hole for her whole SNL “live” act. Ok, I didn’t see that one but do you want to bet that someone, among the millions of people that have posted journals, hasn’t written something about that?

On my old journal, I would write mainly sports stuff. My weekly Niner Notes. Barry Bonds, the Red Sox winning the series. Personal stuff that might interest only me. But ever since I finally posted my story and heard back from people about it, I felt something change in my voice and me.

There’s only so many ways you can say how your day was.

The layman has found a new medium to voice their opinion. And as the community grows, so are other people hearing your voice. I read this news article about a company hired to sift through online blogs after the Super Bowl to look for postings critiquing the commercial ads that air. Think about that for a second. Doesn’t that make you want to actually look more intently at those ads and voice your opinion? Doesn’t that fan the flames of the writer in you to let your words be heard? Us simple bloggers, actually making a difference on whether something was successful or not?

And you thought hardly anyone was reading your posts?

Everyday, millions of people log on to their computers and put thoughts to a white electronic paper. I say use this forum to let your voice be heard. Put your thoughts and opinions out there for a whole new audience to read. Whether they scoff at your words, laugh, get angry, get disgusted, get amused. Anything! Just get something. As Dr. Jose Rizal once said, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Or, in this case, the keyboard is mightier. Maybe that was a bad person to quote since he got jailed by the Spaniards for his words. But then I saw this article which is eerily similar to his plight. People just trying to make a difference with their words but got knocked down by a system which wishes to silence those who have an intelligent thought in their head. I’m not saying be this radical. Or am I?

Whether you want to think about it or not, words have the power to influence other people. People that you don’t know that wander aimlessly and fall to your site. People you know. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that they have eyes to read and a brain to process the words. To stir pent up feelings and emotions.

I get excited everytime I write. And it’s not just because I love to write. Just the thought of things that used to be concealed in my head be available for legion of users to see gets my adrenaline flowing. You just can’t wait for them to come back to you and say: “that was crap”, or “you’re dead-on”. “I can relate”. “You’re wrong. I think…” “What the hell are you talking about?” Ok that last one you don’t want to hear. That just means you suck as a writer.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, we need to reach a higher stream of thought and let it out for the world to see. We need to get out of this simplistic and selfish view of our world and talk about things that affect not only us but others as well so we are able to connect to other people. The simple act of putting thoughts to screen and sharing them with other people, whether they are 2 or 2,000, can have a profound effect on not only you but also the world. And, I assure you, we will never lose the “novelty” of posting these journals online. Were not naked to the world. We are free.

Every day, I hear or read about the new power of the people. Won’t you join the revolution?