Why Should Anybody Care What I Think?
The internet has given rise to an interesting sort of ego-ism. People suddenly thing their opinions matter. Witness the rise of the blog. (And yes, I am aware that I'm the pot calling the kettle...) Anybody with access to a computer and half a brain can post their views on everything from the war (no) to junk food (yes) for the rest of the world to find and marvel at. And the weird thing is....people read it. I know many intelligent people who have spent hours wandering through the electronic ether, reading the often moronic and frequently misspelled rantings of somebody they wouldn't want to have lunch with. Why should we care that Paul from Toledo thinks that chick from Junkyard Wars is hot? Why does it matter that "Dippy-Doo" from "some planet other than here" feels pre-marital sex is sinful? And why should you care what I think? You shouldn't.


Face it, the internet has replaced that little pink diary with the tiny lock on it that girls in the 50s used to have. Only now it's cool to keep a diary. What's more...it's cooler to share that diary with the world. What used to be a completely private activity has now become a spectator sport. Secret musings about crushes and embarassing admissions about fat days have given way to public explorations of technology, politics, and how hot Jennifer Aniston is.


It is, unfortunately, all to rare to find a Web page with anything of more interest than adolescent rantings. And it's ironic that those that I find most interesting, are those which have been created by people I already know, love, and/or respect. Truthfully, I feel we need fewer Weblogs and more "salons"...where intelligent people talk to each other, share ideas, debate issues, and never once mention Jennifer Aniston.