There's really nothing special about blogs

It’s always funny when I see people demand special treatment from corporations, PR companies, and establishments — just because they maintain a blog. A less irritating variant is someone who considers their online presence (significant or otherwise) as part of a new revolution that will take society by storm.

Both of these entitled worldviews rely on a faulty assumption: that the blog is an entirely new medium that demands a special sort of recognition, based on its very existence alone. It’s as if the relative novelty of blogging as a platform is enough to make it matter.

That’s not to say blogging as a form of communication is inconsequential. The development of blogging — the creation of tools that make updating websites with a little technical know-how — helped the Internet progress from a redundant network meant for research and military applications, to a mainstream fixture of the modern world.

Blogging gained popularity because it facilitates expression, much like how writing and even speech caught on for the same reason. It’s a not-so-new way (historians trace its origins to the late 1990s) of interacting with other people.

The blog’s role in communication’s progress is what makes it special, not the mere presence of one. A blog alone does not entitle you to special perks, exclusive access, and freebies. More importantly, it does not guarantee an audience, and the weight that comes with one. What really matters is the message you share, and how relevant, useful or even entertaining it is for others. The medium you employ is always secondary to that.

It’s true that companies who ignore what’s shared about them online do so at their own peril, especially as the number of Filipinos who surf the Web grows. It’s true that certain local bloggers do have enough influence that they can afford to refuse projects. But such clout isn’t automatic. A writer isn’t important just because he commits words to paper (or to the Microsoft Word document, or the website).

You can say that bloggers are a force to be reckoned with, that businesses should consider the impression they make on those who share their thoughts online. That’s correct, much in the same way companies should be aware how they’re presented on the newspaper, TV, and radio — or on other online channels such as social media (an always vague term that currently encompasses what people share on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Plurk).

But you can’t rely only on your medium of choice as proof that you’re someone important, whose every need should be accommodated. The celebrities, columnists, journalists, newscaster, and other media personalities who get the special treatment enjoy it because they matter in some way. This significance may depend on weighty expertise, or something as shallow as good looks. Maybe it comes from knowing the right people.

Whatever it is, it’s not just because these people are on TV, or due to exposure on a national newspaper of record. These people discovered what made them stand out, and developed it to their advantage on whatever medium they used.

In short, there’s really nothing special about blogs. Unless the bloggers themselves are.