Perils of a Blogger

It is one thing to express your opinion on anything under the sunny skies of Amerika -- it is another thing for anyone to appreciate it since opinions are everywhere and common sense is not.

Bloggers are unappreciated and never paid but they don't do it for the money. Just seeing the reader's numbers rise after a blog is an ego-boost in itself and usually enough for most people.  However, there are three sets of blogger creatures who inhabit the Great Void:

Type one is "The Sensationalist." This blogger never really writes anything but instead takes memes and adds a funny twist to it if they are feeling "creative." . Most of the time they take direct credit for someone else's work and then crow about it to their friends. Lastly, The Sensationalists NEVER EVER check their facts. This species is found on both sides of the political gutter.

The second blogger arch-type is "The Egotist."  This Academy-Award winner wannabe thinks their thoughts, no matter how scattered are a matter of public interest and deserve to be heard, no matter how stupid or non-nonsensical they really are. Facts are just minor inconveniences to be overcome -- maybe. This blogger also uses "shot-gun writing" tactics to the extreme: throw anything against the wall and see what people believe.  The bloggers who do this make anyone else look forlorn and clueless by comparison but in the end, they haven't really said anything of worth at all.

The last blogger type is "The Thinker." his blogger uses solid writing and logic, as well as known and established facts to make their argument to the public.  Alas, this is the rarest of the breed, as as soon as the general pubic's (sic) ADD sets in, the points made and fingers pointed in the right direction are ignored and quickly forgotten.  This is the saddest of all the Blogger types because despite the words of absolute sanity and reason, they are often left alone in the forest of public opinion.

As one who has been at least one of those types at any given time, I can plead guilty with an open heart and lack of remorse. However, since I have evolved into Type 3 (see above) I have watched in dismay as this site has fallen prey to the same dichotomies as other sites: ennui, complacency and senationalism have taken over reasoning though with the exceptions of J.D. Longstreet, Neil Schurr, and A Petree, to name a few of the best here.

Lastly, the dearth of any comments by the readers is also dismaying at times. Any writer expects to get some flack for what they write or as Oscar Wilde once said, "There's only one thing worse than being talked about -- and that is NOT being talked about."

Good luck my fellow bloggers in all that you write; but take a moment and think about which Blogger type you are now and the type you wish to be and go for it.

Gerald A. Loeb
Copyright 2013