P2: Andrew Sullivan's "Why I Blog"

As you read a log, you have the curious sense of moving backward in time as you move forward in pages—the opposite of a book.  

To blog is therefore to let go of your writing in a way, to hold it at arm’s length, open it to scrutiny, allow it to float in the ether for a while, and to let others, as Montaigne did, pivot you toward relative truth. 

-Andrew Sullivan  

I think that Andrew Sullivan blogs because it is such a rare form of writing in that it allows instant connection from the reader to the writer, both conveying information and allowing for instant criticism. In "Why I Blog", Sullivan describes how blogging has evolved since its beginning and how it contributes to a "golden-era of journalism."

Sullivan describes blogging about 9/11 and how he used his blog to share his immediate reactions with the public and could then look back to see his actions. Blogging is like a public diary because it allows for little editing and can follow subject matter at your own discretion. As blogging as developed, Sullivan describes how the medium has become a unique outlet that because of it's ease of use and instantaneous results creates a publisher unlike those in print.

Blogging also allows for instant criticism because as soon as the post is up, it's vulnerable to comments, e-mails and other forms of communication from readers. This allows for a new form of accountability for writers, notorious for being sensitive, to experience and to be criticized directly from their readers. Blogging creates an intensely personal form of writing through it's connection between the author and reader.