Okay, a disclaimer before someone gets offended by this post: I like Gen Y blogs. Duh. I subscribe to about 100 of them. It started when I found Employee Evolution 2 years ago and obsessively checked it everyday for new posts. Since then I’ve only continued to read more and more Gen Y blogs on a daily basis.
But as more “gen y” blogs keep cropping up, I’ve noticed an interesting trend. Sure, we like to blog. But mostly, we seem to blog about…ourselves.
We blog about our lives, our successes and failures and triumphs and upsets. We blog about our careers and how we want to advance them. Some blog about their sex lives, their crazy parents, their relationships, their bad days, their hangovers, their marriages. For many, blogging is a release, a way to work out problems and feel better. And it’s true, the act of writing can have that effect.
Bloggers have at their disposal an interesting platform: as Monica points out, someone with a good voice can build a huge audience of people who want to hear what they have to say. It’s like having a microphone with which we can spread our ideas to hundreds, maybe thousands, of people.
So with that ability, shouldn’t we do something … more? Could we, instead of using blogging as a way to simply discuss our lives and our futures, affect real social change? Around the world? Can we use our platform to give voices to those who don’t have any, yet who desperately need to be heard? Can we tell their stories and make them heard, like this Congolese woman? Her story is one of millions, and so easy to forget. But could we instead do something about it?
Can we, from right here in the comfort of our own homes, create social change that impacts the world?
Maybe we could. Although some definitely say maybe we can’t. Maybe social media doesn’t really change anything. Maybe, as one wise man once said, electronic communities really build nothing. Perhaps it’s all just empty narcissism.
But I think they’re wrong; even Vonnegut. I think there are plenty of ways we can use the range of new technology available to us to create real change and raise awareness. Some people have already set examples — like here, and here, and here.
The question is: do we care enough? Just because we can do something, and we have the resources to do it, doesn’t mean we will choose action over talk. We get wrapped up in our job hunts and travel plans and five midterm exams and crappy bosses and unemployment and achieving our dreams and microfame and finding the one and everything else. And then we blog all about ourselves and our lives again because it’s what we’re thinking about at any given moment.
And so, sometimes we forget that blogging is bigger than just ourselves; it’s a platform. One from which we can educate, inform, discuss, spread ideas, and create change. If you write well about things that matter, people will listen.
Next time: a follow-up with thoughts on ways you can use a blog to create real change.
Nisha Chittal is a writer and journalist who currently serves as Associate Editor of CitizenJanePolitics.com and is a political columnist for UniversityChic.com. Her personal blog is Politicoholic, where she offers commentary on a range of topics, including but not limited to politics, technology, and the changing role of women and Generation Y in politics today.
