Andrew Sullivan "Why I Blog"

Sullivan uses an old example of ship captains writing in a daily log to illuminate his reasons for Blogging. This log used by the ship’s captain became a sort of story that was unintended, yet accurate because it was written in constantly. Logs were a form of human self-correction. It wasn’t until the last decade or so that Web Logging, later known as Blogging, on the World Wide Web became possible. Sullivan writes, “From the first few days of using the form, I was hooked. The simple experience of being able to directly broadcast my own words to readers was an exhilarating literary liberation.” In comparison to the old ways of journalism and writing that was revised, edited, checked through every source, reedited, and so on, Blogging became a self-publicized “literary liberation” that had many hooked, including Andrew Sullivan. He writes, “Blogging is therefore to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive. It is, in many ways, writing out loud.” This is a very thought-provoking and on-point comparison. With the freedom of Blogging came the emotional pursuit of truth and expression, but with it came a higher likelihood of falsity and attack from readers. Sullivan also indicates that he Blogs because there is no last minute edits, cuts, and other restrictions presented by printed writing. He was told that, “The key to understanding a blog is to realize that it’s a broadcast, not a publication.” No one wants to read a long, intimidating post online, people want short and to-the-point information that leads to discussion, debate, and thought-provoking conclusions. To Sullivan, Blogging is a new for of creative writing that could inspire a Golden Age of writing. Writers have the freedom to write what they see fit- no matter how opinionated it may be. In his words, Blogging reveals the “imperfection of thought” and progress through rationality readers’ responses. It is also important, according to Sullivan, to have friends and family involved in your blog, and have their own. It creates a sort of online community that allows users to interact and share information, opinions, and first-hand knowledge. Even with the issues of Blogging, Sullivan Blogs for the freedom of daily writing and to broadcast his thoughts and believes to the world for the pursuit of knowledge and truth.