On January 14th of this year a friend of mine recommended I visit a site called Joeuser, a site where you can write blogs. I was relatively clueless about what blogs where at the time and only paid attention to the address he gave me. Needless to say my curiosity compelled me to check out the site the very next day. What I found was not expected and I felt much the same way when one randomly finds an answer to a question they had forgotten. I was perplexed at the amount of blogs written and the variety of the subject matter. I found blogs that challenged the way I thought and that provided insightful perspectives on things from politics to philosophy. I found blogs that concerned everyday lives of people that are thousands of miles away from me. I found an actual community that was functioning on agreeing and disagreeing as the source of staying together. Finding this site intriguing only added fuel to the curiosity that I already had and I signed up for an account. I was a novice to blogs and I had never really shared any of the writing I did on a larger scale than between friends or my teachers. I browsed and read more to understand the level of the audience and found some eccentric authors and writers who debated on complex issues. After a couple of days of replying to get a “feel” for the users at the site I posted my first blog article dubbed “One World” which received a reply from Wahkonta. My first reply to my first article was a critical argument against what I had written, in all actuality this automatically sparked interest in me to pursue writing on JU further and before I knew it I was addicted.
On the 15th of this month I will have been writing on JU for 5 months. I realized the amount of time and effort I had
placed on this site when I was recently promoted to power user 2, something which merits the level of cooperation and participation that I have given. Self-promotion aside within the time I have been blogging I have noticed certain things about the influence debates on joeuser have had on me. Blogging and debating with users that disagree or agree with me has forced me to hone my argumentative side and always stick to facts in arguments. My writing itself has improved as an effect of wanting to write exceptionally interesting or insightful articles. This, I figure, is my muse for the current time being that drives me to post.
The internet has given us the ability to interact with others thousands of miles away. This interaction with different ways of thinking, morals, and influences helps to add to the overall experience of JU. One can receive so many different responses from people that derive their knowledge from diverse sources. The replies I enjoy the most are the ones that expand on what I was writing about with someone else’s perspective added, it allows me to think of what I was writing in a different way. Any replies debating or simply stating that I may be wrong I welcome as criticism that can strengthen my argument on that particular subject in the future and gives me a peek into what the other perspective may be. Personally I consider viewing an issue from both sides the best way to decide where to stand. The world of blogging in itself has a vital function insofar in thrives on criticism. Whether you agree or disagree it is the fabric that holds it together. Just a thought…