The difference between blogging and other forms of online publishing vary depending on the blogger. Assuming the blogger works solo and is free to publish whatever he/she pleases, then it contrasts the checks and balances that constrain a journalist posting an online article on a news agency’s website. Other forms of online publishing may have co-writers, editors, or other standards to adhere to that a singular blogger may ignore.

Of course, there are bloggers who uphold a certain standard in their writing, and I do not want to take away that trait from their credibility. But the matter of the fact is that when there is simply one voice, the potential for misinformation, delusion, or simply ignorance, is higher. This is especially true for blogs people follow for a personality rather than information. Though not a blog, Alex Jones’ podcast is an example of a singular, unchallenged voice that a blog may exhibit.

As someone who recently started blogging on a weekly basis, I think over and worry about these aspects of an online platform for an individual’s voice. With power comes its own consequences, both good and bad. I can remember instances from my earlier days, back in 2012 when I was blogging for games, where information I distributed was easily biased, but portrayed as the accepted truth. Thankfully, it was just a small game, rather than a political landscape, but it still serves as a warning to myself. My blogs nowadays consist of prose rather than guides and news articles, but every now and then I am tempted to post a philosophical piece, or a ‘childish rambling’ as I called them. And when I’m posting on a weekly basis, those articles certainly take more effort than the usual, abstract prose that I write. I feel more inclined to fact-check whatever I write, and to see if such topics have already been debated, so that I could build upon their thoughts rather than appear to copy them.