Opaque Lucidity

Information Reformation

I finished reading Hugh Hewitt's latest work, Blog, this morning. Those of us who have been online since the early 90's (or before) know that while blogging is not new, the effect it is beginning to have on media and the world at large is. This is the message Mr. Hewitt conveys: blogs are going to become a part of your life, even if you don't know it. Get on board.

As a lifelong Catholic, I have read much about the Protestant Reformation, but Mr. Hewitt talks about it from an angle I have never considered and links it to present-day blogging. The point? That the Reformation needed the printing press in order to be successful. Gutenberg's invention allowed the common man to read the thoughts of others in a form that was cheap and easy to produce. In that same way, blogs allow Everyman to communicate with his peers in a way that is unprecedented and shatters the hierarchal nature of the old media.

Mr. Hewitt writes in detail about the four "founding myths" of the blogosphere: the Jayson Blair affair at the NY Times, Trent Lott's comments about Strom Thurmond, John Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia lie and CBS News' forged National Guard document scandal. Without blogs, none of these stories would have ever been front page news. They helped to shape the political side of blogging, linking large blogs read by thousands to the small fry (like me) who measure their readership in dozens or hundreds.

But Mr. Hewitt does not stop with discussing the political. He asserts that, regardless of your career or position, you either need to be blogging, have someone on your staff who is blogging about your company or at least be thinking about how to react to a potential "blog swarm" should it attack your industry or company. The section on 12 blogs he would start were he a musician, book publisher, etc. is pure genius and bolsters his argument that focused blogs can have a place almost anywhere.

After reading his book, I am more enthusiastic than ever about blogging...and you should be, too. Your blog doesn't need to be a rambling mess like this one. It can be focused on your job (like a soccer coach, for example), your hobby (like being a Mac addict) or your faith. No matter the focus, get writing. It's free, fun and you may just change the world.