Ding Dong the Author's Dead!

Okay, so resulting in my tendency to write my blog posts at the last possible minute, I had the benefit of seeing the posts of just about everyone else in class before I contribute anything. Unfortunately, the two blogs that had immediately jumped out at me at first have been used by just about everyone, which is alas, a downside of being the last to write anything. The indie kid in me will not settle for an overused blog reference.

From the few blogs I've stalked, this one only appeared once. Hopefully I don't need to explain why this one popped out at me initially (aside from its obvious presence as the first in our shared list of academic blogs), but in the strange event that you just aren't getting it - look at the font! The content is also, quite appropriately, acknowledging the author's need to please his/her readers. "Do PEOPLE not recognize the ADVANTAGES of random blockquoting or UnNecessary bullets 1. and outlines that would shock YOUR high school English teacher?" The post feels like a jumbled, frustrated mess, but in relatively few words contains quite a bit about the author's responsibility to its readers and vice versa, especially in the world of blogging.

The subjectivity tied to language is apparent in his first line, as he debates how to blog best, implying nobody has such empirical knowledge. If such a thing exists, who decides what is "best" or even "well"? Clearly there is confusion between what constitutes such words - the concept of "best" is vague. And what may be considered best to the author is not necessarily for the reader. In the end, his experimental usage of font and brief, somewhat nonsensical rambling comes around to "no, this isn't what the reader wants". At which point, the author/blogger effectively dies... figuratively.