Why people need blogs

Not too long ago, I was lurking around Megan's blog and came across what might be the ABSOLUTE LONGEST COMMENT SECTION OF ALL TIME.

Okay, vast exaggeration, but at the end of it all (I think, I hope we've reached the end) there were FIFTY TWO comments. And not to discredit Megan's post, but I don't think she thought that's where her little photo and 40 words of text would spark such... debate. Yes. Debate.

Now I wasn't really all that interested in the topic. I didn't really want to debate the merits/ethics of various fanatic religious groups. I'm not sure if you noticed, but that's not really my thing. I'll leave that for others who have more experience and more passion to discuss.

But I DID make a snarky comment about one of the OTHER commenters, something along the lines of:

I know you love your readers, but "C" can really suck the life out of a could-be-funny comments section.
Sigh.

Get the man his own blog.

Now maybe it was a lame thing to do, especially the first bit. That was probably kind of petty. But I meant the second part. The commenter had left like 10? 15? posts? He obviously had something to say on the subject.

So, like I said. Get the man his own blog. It sounds like he needs it*.

This is not the first time I've had the "dude, that person NEEDS a blog" thought. It hit me during that whole "25 random things" phase on Facebook (is that STILL going? I keep getting tagged!). I had no desire to write 25 random things about me because I write 25 million random things about me on my blog EVERY DAY.

So I now have this theory that people need blogs. In reality, that theory should probably be altered to say that "people need outlets" and blog is equalifnotgreaterthan an outlet. Because it seems like the more time we spend on our computers or in front of the tv or just squashed in our little homes, the more we DESPERATELY TRY TO FIND WAYS TO EXPRESS OURSELVES.

Harper's new haircut? I HAVE AN OPINION ON THAT!
CBC handouts? OO! OO! LEMME TRY!
The future of the world as we know it? I'M AN EXPERT!

I'm not saying people should stop commenting on mine or anyone else's blog. Especially Megan's. That would be rude, wouldn't it? But I find having my own webspace helps me deliniate between what is "mine" and what is "yours."

I could have written this entry in the comments section of Megan's blog. The she'd have 55 responses to her 40-word post. But the way I see it, if my comments are getting rambly I probably have enough material for a post. And there's no need to outstay one's e-welcome.

But that's just IMHO.

* And I'd argue he needs it more than many... he works in the media industry and I think that people who spend their days writing what other people tell them to write about... or who write what HAS to be/NEEDS to be written (instead of having the liberty to yammer on about whatever topic they like) are inherently creative individuals who can use an outlet. This goes for newspaper people, tv people, radio people, speech writers, communications people... and whoever else out there falls into the "creative but maybe not getting all the release they need" category.