Barack Obama, John Mccain and the Joy of Blogging

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The blogosphere has changed the world.  It has changed commerce, the distribution of news and it has changed politics.  Many pundits content that without the Internet, Barack Obama would not have won the presidency.  He raised millions of more dollars than John McCain mainly because he used the Internet better.  He and his team and his supporters were better at blogging.

To raise millions of dollars is not why most people blog.  Most bloggers don’t have the name recognition to raise large sums of money by blogging.  I content that tens of millions blog and raise very little money.  Millions of people don’t even blog for money.  So, why do they keep blogging?

Here’s my argument.  When a person blogs he or she prints words that represent thoughts and emotions.  The blogger sends these words out into the blogosphere to see what happens.  The words are absolute vindication that the blogger does exist.  The words are the proof.

The blogger checks the blog’s page views for hits.  Hits are proof that someone decided to see what the blogger had to say.  Someone may even leave a comment. 

In today’s vast, impersonal world, to get another person, even a stranger, to comment on something is an accomplishment.  The blogger has made a connection.  Even page views are a connection.

And I think this is why people spent so much time blogging: they want to connect in someway with someone else.  If the blogger’s words are worth connecting to then so is the blogger.

In a world that we have very little control over, blogging gives us a voice that if multiplied enough times that voice will be heard.

Just ask Barrack Obama and John McCain.